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Howell's blue grass

Habit Plants usually annual, rarely longer-lived; densely tufted, tuft bases narrow; not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. Plants perennial; not or only slightly glaucous; densely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous.
Culms

(10) 25-80(120) cm tall, 0.4-1.75 mm thick, usually erect;

nodes terete, usually 1-2 exserted.

6-18 cm, with 0(1) exserted nodes, upper node in the lower 1/3 of the culms.

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 1/10 – 1/5 their length, terete, smooth or very sparsely scabrous, distal sheath lengths 0.8-1.8 times blade lengths;

ligules 1.25-2.5 mm, smooth, apices obtuse, often lacerate;

blades thin, sparsely scabrous adaxially, flag leaf blades 1.6-3.8 cm.

Basal branching

intravaginal.

mixed intra- and extra vaginal.

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.

1.5-3.5 cm, slightly lax, ovoid, contracted to loosely contracted, dense to moderately dense, with 2-6 branches per node;

branches steeply ascending, fairly straight, sulcate or angled, smooth or infrequently the angles sparsely scabrous, not glaucous.

Spikelets

(2)4-6 mm, laterally compressed, with 2-5 florets;

rachilla internodes about 1 mm, smooth, usually softly puberulent, infrequently glabrous.

laterally compressed;

florets 2-5;

rachilla internodes smooth, glabrous, lower internodes 0.8-1 mm.

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.

equal, broadly lanceolate, thin;

lower glumes 0.75-1.05 mm wide, 3-veined;

upper glumes 3.7-4.7 mm long, 0.9-1.3 mm wide, lengths 3.7-4.1 times widths;

calluses all glabrous, or some proximal florets within a spikelet sparsely webbed;

lemmas 3.7-4.5 mm, broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thin, keels and marginal veins short- to long-villous, hairs extending 1/3-1/2 the keel length, lateral veins usually glabrous, or infrequently sparsely softly puberulent, intercostal regions glabrous;

palea keels finely scabrous;

anthers 0.8-1.2 mm, poorly formed, sacs not fully maturing, not dehiscing, about 0.1 mm in diameter.

2n

= unknown.

= ca. 65, 70.

Poa howellii

Poa laxa × glauca

Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 laxa × glauca is an eastern low arctic entity which has passed under the name P. flexuosa Sm., P. laxa subsp. flexuosa (Sm.) Hyl., and, more recently, P. laxiuscula (Blytt) Lange. It has also been confused with P. glauca (p. 576). It can be distinguished from P. laxa (see previous) by its more open sheaths and poorly developed, indehiscent anthers. It differs from P. glauca in its broad, thin glumes and lemmas; compact panicles; smooth or nearly smooth, non-glaucous branches; and poorly developed, indehiscent anthers. It also grows in wetter habitats than P. glauca, often around seeps. Its chloroplast DNA is more like that of the American P. laxa subsp. fernaldiana than that of the European subspp. flexuosa and laxa or of P. glauca.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 534. FNA vol. 24, p. 572.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Homalopoa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Oreinos
Sibling taxa
P. abbreviata, P. alpina, P. alsodes, P. ammophila, P. annua, P. arachnifera, P. arctica, P. arida, P. arnowiae, P. atropurpurea, P. autumnalis, P. bigelovii, P. bolanderi, P. bulbosa, P. chaixii, P. chambersii, P. chapmaniana, P. compressa, P. confinis, P. curtifolia, P. cusickii, P. cuspidata, P. diaboli, P. douglasii, P. eminens, P. fendleriana, P. glauca, P. hartzii, P. infirma, P. interior, P. keckii, P. kelloggii, P. laxa, P. laxa × glauca, P. laxiflora, P. leibergii, P. leptocoma, P. lettermanii, P. macrantha, P. macrocalyx, P. marcida, P. napensis, P. nemoralis, P. nervosa, P. occidentalis, P. paludigena, P. palustris, P. paucispicula, P. piperi, P. porsildii, P. pratensis, P. pringlei, P. pseudoabbreviata, P. reflexa, P. rhizomata, P. saltuensis, P. secunda, P. sierrae, P. stebbinsii, P. stenantha, P. strictiramea, P. sublanata, P. suksdorfii, P. supina, P. sylvestris, P. tenerrima, P. tracyi, P. trivialis, P. unilateralis, P. wheeleri, P. wolfii, P. ×gaspensis, P. ×limosa, P. ×nematophylla
Synonyms P. bolanderi var. howellii
Name authority Vasey & Scribn. unknown
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