Poa paludigena
Poa saltuensis
bog bluegrass, eastern bog bluegrass
old-pasture blue grass
10-55 cm, very slender, weak.
20-95 cm tall, 0.8-1.5 mm thick.
closed for 1/4 - 3/5 their length, terete, smooth or sparsely scabrous, margins not ciliate;
ligules 0.5-2 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, truncate;
blades 0.8-2 mm wide, flat, thin, soft, apices narrowly prow-shaped.
closed for 1/3-2/3 their length;
ligules 0.2-3(4) mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, truncate to obtuse;
blades 1-3.6 (6) mm wide, flat, thin, lax, veins prominent.
mostly extravaginal.
mainly pseudointravaginal.
3-8(12) cm, lax, open, sparse;
nodes with 1-2(3) branches;
branches (2)3-7 cm, spreading to reflexed, capillary, angled, angles scabrous.
4-20(24) cm long, less than 1/4 the plant height, lax;
nodes with 1-3 branches;
branches ascending to spreading, lax, angled, angles prominent, scabrous.
3.2-5.2 mm, laterally compressed, broadly lanceolate to ovate;
florets 2-3(5);
rachilla internodes smooth, glabrous.
3-5.6 mm, laterally compressed;
florets 2-5;
rachilla internodes glabrous, usually shorter than 1 mm.
narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, thin, distinctly keeled, keels scabrous;
lower glumes 1-3-veined;
upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the adjacent lemmas;
calluses sparsely webbed;
lemmas 2.5-4 mm, lanceolate, green, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins short-villous, extending 2/3 – 4/5 the keel length, lateral veins fairly prominent, intercostal regions glabrous, apices obtuse to broadly acute, white, faintly bronze-colored or not;
palea keels scabrous;
anthers 0.2-0.8 mm.
2/3 – 3/4 as long as the adjacent lemmas, distinctly keeled;
lower glumes 1(3)-veined;
upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas;
calluses webbed;
lemmas 2.4-4 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, usually glabrous, bases of marginal veins rarely sparsely softly puberulent, lateral veins prominent, intercostal regions smooth, minutely bumpy, apices obtuse to sharply acute or acuminate;
palea keels scabrous;
anthers 0.4-1.5 mm.
= unknown.
Poa paludigena
Poa saltuensis
Poa paludigena is an inconspicuous species restricted to the northeastern United States. It grows in shady bogs and fens, often underneath other plants. Poa trivialis (p. 568) sometimes grows with P. paludigena; the former has distinctly longer ligules and anthers. Plants from the middle Appalachian Mountains are sometimes confused with P. sylvestris (p. 512). Poa paludigena is generally shorter and more slender, has shorter panicles with only 1-2 branches per node, is glabrous between the lemma veins and on the palea keels, has shorter anthers, and grows in colder habitats.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Poa saltuensis grows in woodlands of the north-central and northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, extending south to Tennessee. The two subspecies are sometimes treated as species. The variation between the two overlaps and is correlated to some extent with ecology and geography. Poa marcida (p. 512), a western species once included in P. saltuensis, differs in having closed sheaths and attenuate lemmas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Anthers 0.4-1 mm long; lemma apices obtuse to acute, firm or scarious for up to 0.25 mm | subsp. languida |
1. Anthers 0.9-1.5 mm long; lemma apices acute to acuminate, scarious for 0.25-0.5 mm | subsp. saltuensis |
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