Poa bulbosa |
Poa nemoralis |
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bulbous blue grass |
Eurasian woodland bluegrass, forest blue grass, interior bluegrass (ssp. interior), wood blue grass, woodland bluegrass, woods bluegrass (ssp. nemoralis) |
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Habit | Plants perennial; densely tufted, not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous. | Plants perennial; green or glaucous; densely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. | ||||
Culms | 15-60 cm, erect or spreading, bases bulbous. |
30-80 cm, mostly erect, smooth below the panicles; nodes slightly compressed, 2-5 exserted, top node at 1/2 - 3/4 the culm length. |
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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 1/10 – 1/5 their length, terete, bases of basal sheaths glabrous, distal sheath lengths 0.45-1 (1.1) times blade lengths; ligules 0.2-0.8(1) mm, sparsely to densely scabrous, apices truncate, minutely ciliolate; blades 0.8-3 mm wide, mostly flat, appressed, abruptly ascending to spreading, straight or somewhat lax, apices narrowly prow-shaped. |
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Basal branching | intravaginal. |
all or mostly 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. |
7-16(20) cm, lengths usually 2.5-4 times widths at maturity, usually erect, lax in shade forms, narrowly lanceoloid to ovoid, slightly to moderately congested; nodes with 2-5 branches; branches ascending to widely spreading, fairly straight, slender to moderately stout, angled, angles moderately to 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. |
3-8 mm, lengths 2.5-3.5 times widths, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, laterally compressed, usually not glaucous; florets (1)2-5; rachilla internodes usually shorter than 1 mm, smooth, muriculate, or scabrous, usually puberulent, infrequently hispidulous or 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. |
subulate to narrowly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth or sparsely scabrous, apices sharply acute to acuminate; lower glumes 3-veined, long-tapered to a slender point, lengths 6.4-11 times widths; upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas; calluses webbed, hairs sparse, often short; lemmas 2.4-4 mm, proximal lemma widths less than 1/5 times lengths, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins short-villous, lateral veins glabrous, obscure, intercostal regions smooth or muriculate, glabrous, margins glabrous, apices acute, usually partially bronze-colored; palea keels scabrous, intercostal regions glabrous; anthers 0.8-1.9 mm. |
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2n | = 14, 21, 28, 39, 42, 45. |
= 28, 35, 42, 48, 50, 56. |
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Poa bulbosa |
Poa nemoralis |
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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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AK; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland
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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.) |
Introduced from northern Eurasia, Poa nemoralis is established primarily at low elevations in deciduous and mixed conifer/deciduous forests. It is now common in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, and is spreading in the west. It can be distinguished from P. glauca (p. 576) and P. interior (see next) by its consistently short ligules, high top culm node, relatively long flag leaf blades, and narrow glumes and lemmas. It is usually hexaploid. (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. 574. | ||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Arenariae | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Stenopoa | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | L. | L. | ||||
Web links |
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