Poa howellii |
Poa alsodes |
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Howell's blue grass |
grove blue grass |
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Habit | Plants usually annual, rarely longer-lived; densely tufted, tuft bases narrow; not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. | Plants perennial; not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous, loosely tufted. |
Culms | (10) 25-80(120) cm tall, 0.4-1.75 mm thick, usually erect; nodes terete, usually 1-2 exserted. |
31-126 cm. |
Sheaths | closed for 1/2 - 7/8 their length, usually weakly compressed and keeled, usually scabrous, rarely smooth; ligules 1.5-5(10) mm, smooth or scabrous, acute; blades 1-7(10) mm wide, flat, lax, soft, finely scabrous, apices narrowly prow-shaped, cauline blades 2-10 cm. |
closed for 1/2 - 7/8 their length; ligules 0.1-1.7(2.1) mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, truncate to obtuse; blades 0.8-4.1 mm wide, flat, lax. |
Basal branching | intravaginal. |
mainly pseudointravaginal. |
Panicles | 10-25(30) cm, erect, eventually open, with (1)3-5(7) branches per node; branches eventually spreading or reflexed, fairly straight, angled, angles usually moderately to densely scabrous, rarely sparsely scabrous. |
11.4-36 cm, erect or lax, narrowly pyramidal, usually open, infrequently contracted; nodes with (2)3-5(7) branches; branches spreading, straight, angled, angles sparsely to moderately scabrous. |
Spikelets | (2)4-6 mm, laterally compressed, with 2-5 florets; rachilla internodes about 1 mm, smooth, usually softly puberulent, infrequently glabrous. |
3.5-6.7 mm, laterally compressed; florets 2-4; rachilla internodes glabrous. |
Glumes | slightly unequal, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels and sometimes the lateral veins sparsely to moderately scabrous; lower glumes 1-3-veined; upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas; calluses of some or all florets sparsely webbed; lemmas 2.5-3.5 mm, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, crisply puberulent proximally, hairs evenly distributed, finely scabrous distally, lateral veins obscure to prominent, margins narrowly hyaline, glabrous, apices narrowly acute, infrequently anthocyanic; palea keels sparsely scabrous, glabrous or softly puberulent at midlength, intercostal regions usually softly puberulent; anthers 3, 0.2-1 mm. |
ovate, distinctly keeled, keels scabrous; lower glumes 1-veined; upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas; calluses webbed; lemmas 2.7-4.2(5) mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels short-villous to about midlength, marginal and lateral veins glabrous, lateral veins obscure or moderately prominent, intercostal regions glabrous, smooth, apices acute; paleas glabrous or ciliolate over the keels, apices finely scabrous; anthers 0.4-0.8 mm. |
2n | = unknown. |
= unknown. |
Poa howellii |
Poa alsodes |
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Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; BC
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CT; DE; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC
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Discussion | Poa howellii grows primarily on rocky banks and wooded slopes, from the coastal ranges of southern British Columbia to southern California. It differs from P. bolanderi (see above) in having puberulent, rather than smooth or scabrous, lemmas, and in growing at lower elevations, mostly from near sea level to 1000 m. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Poa alsodes grows in mesic woodlands of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, extending south to Illinois, Tennessee, and North Carolina, particularly in the Appalachian Mountains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 534. | FNA vol. 24. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Homalopoa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Sylvestres |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. bolanderi var. howellii | |
Name authority | Vasey & Scribn. | A. Gray |
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