Poa bulbosa |
Poa cuspidata |
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bulbous blue grass |
early bluegrass |
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Habit | Plants perennial; densely tufted, not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous. | Plants perennial; loosely tufted or with solitary shoots, shortly rhizomatous. | ||||
Culms | 15-60 cm, erect or spreading, bases bulbous. |
15-60 cm, erect or the bases decumbent, not branching above the base, terete or weakly compressed; nodes terete, 0-1 exserted. |
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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 about 1/2 their length, slightly compressed, distinctly keeled, glabrous, bases of basal sheaths glabrous, distal sheath lengths 4-60 times blade lengths; collars of proximal leaves usually retrorsely scabrous or pubescent distally and about the throat; ligules 0.5-4 mm, smooth or scabrous, apices truncate to acute; innovation blades similar to the cauline blades; cauline blades 1-4 mm wide, usually flat, sometimes slightly folded, smooth or sparsely scabrous, primarily over the veins, apices broadly prow-shaped, blades steeply reduced in length distally, flag leaf blades 0.2-3(6) cm. |
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Basal branching | intravaginal. |
mainly 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. |
5-15 cm, erect or lax, pyramidal, open, sparse, with 20-80 spikelets, proximal internodes usually 3+ cm; nodes usually with 2 branches; branches (2)3-7(10) cm, spreading to reflexed, straight, angled, angles scabrous, with 2-8(10) spikelets. |
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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. |
5-8 mm, lengths to 3.5 times widths, laterally compressed, not sexually dimorphic; florets 2-5; rachilla internodes smooth. |
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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. |
narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, distinctly keeled; lower glumes 1-3-veined; calluses webbed, hairs over 1/3 the lemma length; lemmas 3-6 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins sparsely short- to long-villous, lateral veins moderately prominent, intercostal regions glabrous or the upper florets in the spikelets softly puberulent, margins glabrous, apices acute; palea keels scabrous, softly puberulent at midlength; anthers vestigial (0.1-0.2 mm) or 2-3.5 mm. |
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2n | = 14, 21, 28, 39, 42, 45. |
= 28. |
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Poa bulbosa |
Poa cuspidata |
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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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AL; DC; DE; GA; IN; KY; LA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
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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 cuspidata is a common species of forest openings in the Appalachian Mountains. It is an eastern counterpart of P. arnowiae (see previous), P. tracyi (p. 543), and P. nervosa (see next). Like those species, it is sequentially gynomonoecious. (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. 545. | ||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Arenariae | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Madropoa > subsect. Poa | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | L. | Nutt. | ||||
Web links |
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