Poa reflexa
Poa abbreviata
nodding bluegrass
abbreviated bluegrass, dwarf blue grass, northern blue grass, short bluegrass
10-60 cm.
5-15(20) cm, slender, leafless above the basal tuft.
closed for 1/3 – 2/3 their length, terete, smooth;
ligules 1.5-3.5 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous;
blades 1.5-4 mm wide, flat, thin, soft, apices broadly prow-shaped.
closed for 1/10 – 1/4 their length, terete;
ligules 0.4-5.5 mm, milky white to hyaline, smooth or scabrous, apices truncate to acute;
blades 0.8-1.5(2) mm wide, involute, moderately thick, soft, apices narrowly prow-shaped.
mixed intra- and extravaginal.
all or mainly intravaginal.
4-15 cm, nodding, open, with numerous spikelets and 1-2 branches per node;
branches (2)3-7 cm, spreading to reflexed, lower branches usually reflexed, flexuous, usually terete, smooth or sparsely scabrous, with (3)6-18 spikelets.
1.5-5 cm, erect, lanceoloid to ovoid, contracted, congested;
nodes with 1-3 branches;
branches to 1.5 cm, erect, slender, terete, sulcate or angled, smooth or the angles sparsely scabrous;
pedicels usually shorter than the spikelets.
4-6 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, usually partly to wholly purplish, with 3-5 florets;
rachilla internodes shorter than 1 mm, smooth.
4-6.5 mm, laterally compressed, rarely bulbiferous, frequently strongly anthocyanic;
florets 2-5, rarely bulb-forming;
rachilla internodes usually shorter than 1 mm, smooth or scabrous.
narrowly to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth or nearly so;
lower glumes 1-veined;
upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas;
calluses webbed;
lemmas 2-3.5 mm, lanceolate, partly purple to fairly strongly purple, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins short- to long-villous, keels hairy for 2h-ls their length, lateral veins usually sparsely softly puberulent at least on 1 side, lateral veins obscure to moderately prominent, intercostal regions smooth, minutely bumpy, glabrous, apices acute, slightly bronze-colored or not;
palea keels scabrous, usually softly puberulent at midlength;
anthers 0.6-1 mm.
subequal to slightly longer than the adjacent lemmas, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth;
lower glumes (1)3-veined, lateral veins often faint and short;
upper glumes exceeding or exceeded by the upper florets;
calluses glabrous or webbed;
lemmas 3-4.6 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thin, keels and marginal veins usually short- to long-villous, hairs extending along 3/4 - 5/6 of the keel, infrequently glabrous, intercostal regions glabrous or softly puberulent to short-villous, apices acute;
palea keels scabrous, often short-villous to softly puberulent at midlength, sometimes glabrous;
anthers 0.2-1.2(1.8) mm.
= 28.
= 42.
Poa reflexa
Poa abbreviata
Poa reflexa grows in subalpine forests, meadows, and low alpine habitats, primarily in the central and southern Rocky Mountains. It usually grows on drier and more disturbed sites, and appears shorter-lived, than the frequently sympatric or parapatric P. leptocoma (p. 573), from which it differs in usually having hairs on the palea keels and lateral veins of the lemmas, and smooth panicle branches. In addition, P. reflexa is tetraploid, whereas P. leptocoma is hexaploid. Poa reflexa may resemble small plants of P. occidentalis (see previous) in habit.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Poa abbreviata is an alpine and circumarctic species which has two subspecies in the western Cordilleras, and one in the high arctic. It grows mainly on frost scars and mesic rocky slopes, usually on open ground. In rare cases where the lemmas and calluses of P. abbreviata ate glabrous, it can be confused with P. lettermanii (p. 580), but that species has shorter spikelets and glumes that are longer than the adjacent florets.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Lemmas glabrous; calluses webbed | subsp. marshii |
1. Lemmas usually with hairs over the veins; calluses glabrous or webbed, rarely both the lemmas and calluses glabrous. | → 2 |
2. Anthers 0.2-0.8 mm long; lemma intercostal regions hairy | subsp. abbreviata |
2. Anthers 0.6-1.2(1.8) mm long; lemma intercostal regions glabrous or hairy | subsp. pattersonii |
OR
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
