Poa reflexa |
Poa ×gaspensis |
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nodding bluegrass |
Gaspé Peninsula bluegrass |
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Habit | Plants perennial, short-lived; densely tufted, tuft bases narrow or not, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. | Plants perennial; densely to loosely tufted, rhizomatous. |
Culms | 10-60 cm. |
15-50 cm, erect or the bases decumbent. |
Sheaths | 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 1/4-1/2 their length, terete; ligules acute; blades flat, thin, apices broadly prow-shaped. |
Basal branching | mixed intra- and extravaginal. |
intra- and extravaginal. |
Panicles | 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. |
erect, narrowly lanceoloid to ovoid, contracted, with 2-4 branches per node; branches ascending to spreading, sparsely scabrous. |
Spikelets | 4-6 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, usually partly to wholly purplish, with 3-5 florets; rachilla internodes shorter than 1 mm, smooth. |
3.5-6 mm, laterally compressed, with 3-4 florets. |
Glumes | 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. |
broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, distinctly scabrous on the distal 1/3; lower glumes 3-veined; calluses shortly webbed; lemmas 2.5-4.5 mm, broadly lanceolate, keeled, keels and marginal veins long-villous, intercostal regions sofdy puberulent; palea keels scabrous, long-villous at midlength; anthers 1.2-1.4 mm. |
2n | = 28. |
= unknown. |
Poa reflexa |
Poa ×gaspensis |
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Distribution |
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
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Discussion | 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 ×gaspensis is found in the coastal mountains of the Gaspe Pennisula. There are few plants that fit the description. It seems to consist of hybrids between P. pratensis subsp. alpigena (p. 525) and P. alpina (p. 518). Poa xgaspensis differs from P. alpina in its extravaginal branching, rhizomatous habit, and webbed calluses; from P. pratensis in its acute ligules and more pubescent lemmas; and from P. arctica (p. 529) in its sharply keeled, more scabrous glumes and its spikelet shape, which approaches those of P. alpina and P. pratensis. Poa ×gaspensis is a named intersectional hybrid (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 538. | FNA vol. 24. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Homalopoa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Vasey & Scribn. | Fernald |
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