Poa reflexa
Poa ammophila
nodding bluegrass
bluegrass, sand bluegrass
10-60 cm.
10-30 cm.
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 1/7 – 1/6 their length, terete, bases of basal sheaths glabrous;
ligules 1.5-3 mm;
innovation blades similar to the cauline blades;
cauline blades 1-3 mm wide, involute, moderately thick, soft, abaxial surfaces smooth, adaxial surfaces smooth or sparsely scabrous, apices narrowly prow-shaped.
mixed intra- and extravaginal.
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.
3-6 cm, congested or moderately congested;
nodes with (1)2(3) branches;
branches 1-3(4) cm, erect, terete, smooth or sparsely scabrous.
4-6 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, usually partly to wholly purplish, with 3-5 florets;
rachilla internodes shorter than 1 mm, smooth.
5-7 mm, lengths to 3.5 times widths, broadly lanceolate, weakly laterally compressed, fairly drab;
florets 2-4;
rachilla internodes usually 1-1.3 mm, smooth.
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.
lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth;
lower glumes 3-veined;
calluses glabrous;
lemmas 3-4.6 mm, lanceolate, distinctly to weakly keeled, evenly and densely strigulose over the proximal 1/3-1/2, hairs mostly about 0.1 mm, some keel hairs to 0.2(0.3) mm, lateral veins obscure, margins broadly scarious, glabrous, apices acute;
palea keels scabrous, softly puberulent at midlength, intercostal regions softly puberulent;
anthers 1.5-1.8 mm.
= 28.
= unknown.
Poa reflexa
Poa ammophila
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 ammophila is endemic to the Mackenzie River Delta region, Northwest Territories. It grows primarily north of treeline and, as its name indicates, usually on sandy soils. Its close relative, P. hartzii (see previous), also reaches the continental coastline in this region.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
