Poa leibergii |
Poa porsildii |
|
---|---|---|
Leiberg's blue grass |
Porsild's bluegrass |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; densely tufted, tufts slender, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. | Plants perennial; densely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. |
Culms | 5-35 cm tall, 0.5-0.7 mm thick, erect or the bases decumbent, with 0-1 exserted nodes. |
(12)17-30(40) cm, erect or the bases decumbent, with (0)1(2) exserted nodes. |
Sheaths | closed for 2/5 – 4/5 their length, terete, smooth and glabrous, bases of basal sheaths glabrous; collars smooth, glabrous; ligules (1)2-4 mm, colorless, transparent, smooth, margins decurrent or not, apices truncate to acute, ligules of innovation and cauline leaves alike; innovation blades smooth or sparsely scabrous abaxially; cauline blades 0.5-1 mm wide, flat, folded, or involute, thin, lax, filiform, usually soon withering, both surfaces smooth or sparsely scabrous, apices narrowly prow-shaped. |
closed for 1/3 – 2/3 their length, terete, bases of basal sheaths glabrous; collars smooth, glabrous; ligules of cauline leaves 1-2 mm, smooth, apices truncate to obtuse, ligules of the innovation leaves shorter than 0.5 mm, scabrous, truncate; innovation blades not or indistinctly differentiated from the cauline blades, flat or weakly involute, adaxial surfaces sparsely to fairly densely finely scabrous between the veins; cauline blades 1-3 mm wide, folded, fairly thin to moderately thick, soft, abaxial surfaces smooth, apices narrowly prow-shaped. |
Basal branching | intravaginal. |
intra-vaginal. |
Panicles | 1-5(8) cm, erect to lax, lanceoloid to ovoid or pyramidal, contracted to open, sparse, with (1)6-17(22) spikelets; nodes with 1-2 branches; branches 1-4 cm, erect to spreading, slender, terete, smooth or sparsely to rarely moderately densely scabrous, with 1-2(3) spikelets. |
2-5(6) cm, erect or nodding, ovoid to pyramidal, slightly contracted or open, sparse, with fewer than 20 spikelets; nodes with 1-2 branches; branches 2-4 cm, ascending to widely spreading, occasionally reflexed, flexuous, lax, slender, terete, smooth or sparsely scabrous, with 1-3(4) spikelets. |
Spikelets | 4-8 mm, lengths to 3 times widths, broadly lanceolate to broadly ovate, laterally compressed, not sexually dimorphic; florets 2-8; rachilla internodes glabrous. |
4-7 mm, lengths to 3 times widths, broadly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, laterally compressed, not sexually dimorphic, often strongly anthocyanic; florets 3-4; rachilla internodes smooth, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
Glumes | thin, somewhat lustrous, distinctly keeled; lower glumes 3-veined, distinctly shorter than the lowest lemmas; calluses glabrous; lemmas 3.5-7 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thinly membranous, smooth or scabrous, glabrous, lateral veins moderately prominent to prominent, margins glabrous, apices acute to truncate and erose; palea keels smooth or scabrous, glabrous or pectinately ciliate; anthers vestigial (0.1-0.2 mm) or 1.3-3 mm. |
thin, somewhat lustrous, distinctly keeled, keels smooth; lower glumes 3-veined, distinctly shorter than the lowest lemmas; calluses glabrous; lemmas 4-6 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thinly membranous, sparsely to moderately densely and finely scabrous, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely softly puberulent proximally, lateral veins moderately prominent, margins glabrous, apices acute; palea keels sparsely to moderately densely scabrous; anthers vestigial (0.1-0.2 mm) or 2.5-3 mm. |
2n | = unknown. |
= unknown. |
Poa leibergii |
Poa porsildii |
|
Distribution |
ID; OR; WA
|
AK; NT; YT |
Discussion | Poa leibergii grows on mossy ledges and around vernal pools and the outer margins of Camassia swales, in sagebrush desert to low alpine habitats, especially where snow persists. It is found primarily on and around the basaltic Columbia plateaus, and is gynodioecious. All reports of P. leibergii from California, and most of those from Nevada, are based on misidentified specimens of P. cusickii subsp. cusickii (p. 560) and P. stebbinsii (p. 564). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Poa porsildii is an alpine, calciphilic, mesophilic, dioecious species that grows from eastern Alaska to the western Northwest Territories. It differs from P. cusickii subsp. purpurascens (p. 562) in having panicles with laxer, smooth, and more slender branches, lemmas that are usually glabrous, and in having staminate plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 563. | FNA vol. 24, p. 563. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Madropoa > subsect. Epiles | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Madropoa > subsect. Epiles |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. vaseyochloa | |
Name authority | Scribn. | Gjaerev. |
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