Poa paludigena
Poa strictiramea
bog bluegrass, eastern bog bluegrass
Big Bend bluegrass
10-55 cm, very slender, weak.
30-90 cm, slender to coarse.
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 1/20 – 1/10 their length, terete, scabrous, glabrous;
collars smooth to scabrous;
ligules 0.5-4(6) mm, scabrous, apices truncate to acute, entire or lacerate;
innovation blades 15-30 cm;
cauline blades 1-4 mm wide, involute or rarely flat, moderately thick and firm, both surfaces sparsely to densely antrorsely scabrous, apices narrowly prow-shaped, flag leaf blades usually longer than their sheaths.
mostly extravaginal.
intra-vaginal.
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.
(7)10-30 cm, erect, pyramidal, open, with 2-5 branches per node;
branches 2-8(15) cm, spreading, straight, angled, angles moderately to densely scabrous, sometimes densely scabrous all over, with 10-30 spikelets.
3.2-5.2 mm, laterally compressed, broadly lanceolate to ovate;
florets 2-3(5);
rachilla internodes smooth, glabrous.
4-7 mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed;
florets 2-5;
rachilla internodes 0.8-1.5 mm, smooth or scabrous, sometimes sparsely hispidulous.
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.
sparsely to rarely densely scabrous;
lower glumes 1-3-veined;
calluses usually glabrous, rarely sparsely short-webbed;
lemmas 2.5-3.5 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, smooth or sparsely to densely scabrous, keels and marginal veins glabrous or softly puberulent or short- to long-villous, lateral veins moderately prominent to prominent, intercostal regions usually glabrous, infrequently sparsely softly puberulent, apices acute;
palea keels scabrous;
anthers aborted late in development, or 2.2-2.5 mm.
= unknown.
= 28+1, 28-29+11.
Poa paludigena
Poa strictiramea
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 strictiramea grows on shady, upland mountain slopes, usually below north-facing cliffs, in and around the Chihuahuan Desert. In the United States, it is known only from the Chisos Mountains, Texas. It used to be treated as P. involuta Hitchc. Plants from the eastern part of its range, including the Chisos Mountains, commonly have short, truncate ligules, whereas westward in Mexico, plants with long, acute ligules are more common.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
IL Wildflowers
MI Flora
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