Poa reflexa
Poa strictiramea
nodding bluegrass
Big Bend bluegrass
10-60 cm.
30-90 cm, slender to coarse.
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 1/20 – 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.
mixed intra- and extravaginal.
intra-vaginal.
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.
(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.
4-6 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, usually partly to wholly purplish, with 3-5 florets;
rachilla internodes shorter than 1 mm, smooth.
4-7 mm, lanceolate, laterally compressed;
florets 2-5;
rachilla internodes 0.8-1.5 mm, smooth or scabrous, sometimes sparsely hispidulous.
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.
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.
= 28.
= 28+1, 28-29+11.
Poa reflexa
Poa strictiramea
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 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.)
OR
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
