Poa bulbosa |
Poa chaixii |
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bulbous blue grass |
broadleaf bluegrass, Chaix's bluegrass |
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Habit | Plants perennial; densely tufted, not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous. | Plants perennial; densely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. | ||||
Culms | 15-60 cm, erect or spreading, bases bulbous. |
50-120 cm, stout. |
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Sheaths | closed for about 1/4 their length, terete, lowest sheaths with swollen bases; ligules 1-3 mm, smooth or scabrous, apices obtuse to acute; blades 1-2.5 mm wide, flat, thin, lax, soon withering. |
closed for 1/2 - 3/4 their length, distinctly compressed, keels winged, bases of basal sheaths glabrous; ligules 1-2 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, apices truncate; blades (4)6-15 mm wide, flat or folded, apices broadly and abruptly prow-shaped. |
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Basal branching | intravaginal. |
extravaginal. |
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Panicles | 3-12 cm, ovoid; nodes with 2-5 branches; branches ascending to spreading, terete, usually smooth or sparsely scabrous, infrequently moderately scabrous. |
10-20 cm, ovoid to pyramidal, open, spikelets numerous, with 3-5 branches per node; branches ascending to spreading, angled, angles densely scabrous. |
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Spikelets | 3-5 mm, laterally compressed, usually bulbiferous; florets 3-7, the basal floret, and sometimes additional florets, normal; rachilla internodes smooth, glabrous. |
4-9 mm, laterally compressed; florets 3-5; rachilla internodes about 1 mm, scabrous, glabrous. |
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Glumes | keeled, keels scabrous; lower glumes 3-veined; upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas; calluses webbed or glabrous; lemmas 3-4 mm, lanceolate, keeled, glabrous or the keels and marginal veins short- to long-villous, intercostal regions glabrous or softly puberulent, apices acute; paleas scabrous, keels often softly puberulent at midlength; anthers 1.2-1.5 mm and functional, sometimes aborted late in development, sometimes not developed. |
distinctly keeled, keels scabrous; lower glumes 1-3-veined; calluses glabrous; lemmas 3.5-4.5 mm, narrowly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, scabrous, glabrous throughout, lateral veins prominent, apices acute; palea keels scabrous, glabrous; anthers 1.5-3 mm. |
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2n | = 14, 21, 28, 39, 42, 45. |
= 14. |
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Poa bulbosa |
Poa chaixii |
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Distribution |
AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY
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MN; NY; ON; QC |
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Discussion | Poa bulbosa is a European species that is now established in the Flora region. In southern Europe and the Middle East, it is considered an important early spring forage. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Poa chaixii was introduced from Europe as an attractive ornamental, and has occasionally escaped. A population in southwestern Quebec has been extirpated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 516. | FNA vol. 24, p. 540. | ||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Arenariae | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Homalopoa | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | L. | Vill. | ||||
Web links |
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