Poa saltuensis
Poa glauca
old-pasture blue grass
glaucous blue grass, timberline bluegrass, white bluegrass
20-95 cm tall, 0.8-1.5 mm thick.
5-40(80) cm, erect to spreading, straight, wiry, bases straight or slightly decumbent;
nodes terete or slightly compressed, usually 0-1 exserted, top node at 1/10-1/3 the culm length.
closed for 1/3-2/3 their length;
ligules 0.2-3(4) mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, truncate to obtuse;
blades 1-3.6 (6) mm wide, flat, thin, lax, veins prominent.
closed for 1/10 – 1/5 their length, terete, bases of basal sheaths glabrous or sparsely minutely hairy, hairs 0.1-0.2 mm, distal sheath lengths 1.1-4 times blade lengths;
ligules 1-4(5) mm, sparsely to densely scabrous, apices obtuse to acute, minutely ciliolate;
blades 0.8-2.5 mm wide, flat or folded, thin, soft, appressed or abruptly ascending to spreading, straight, apices narrowly prow-shaped.
mainly pseudointravaginal.
all or mostly extravaginal.
4-20(24) cm long, less than 1/4 the plant height, lax;
nodes with 1-3 branches;
branches ascending to spreading, lax, angled, angles prominent, scabrous.
1-10(20) cm, lengths 3-5 times widths at maturity, rarely racemelike with branches of irregular length, erect, narrowly lanceoloid to ovoid, contracted to somewhat open, sparse, proximal internodes shorter than 1.5(4) cm;
nodes with 2-3(5) branches;
branches erect, ascending or weakly spreading, fairly straight, short, stout, angled, angles moderately to densely scabrous, rarely only scabrous distally, glaucous;
pedicels usually shorter than the spikelets.
3-5.6 mm, laterally compressed;
florets 2-5;
rachilla internodes glabrous, usually shorter than 1 mm.
3-7(9) mm, lengths 2-3 times widths, laterally compressed, rarely bulbiferous, usually glaucous;
florets 2-5, rarely bulb-forming;
rachilla internodes to 1.2 mm, smooth, muriculate, or scabrous, glabrous or sparsely to densely hispidulous or puberulent.
2/3 – 3/4 as long as the adjacent lemmas, distinctly keeled;
lower glumes 1(3)-veined;
upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas;
calluses webbed;
lemmas 2.4-4 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, usually glabrous, bases of marginal veins rarely sparsely softly puberulent, lateral veins prominent, intercostal regions smooth, minutely bumpy, apices obtuse to sharply acute or acuminate;
palea keels scabrous;
anthers 0.4-1.5 mm.
subequal, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth or sparsely scabrous, apices acute;
lower glumes 3-veined;
upper glumes 2-3.8(5.2) mm, lengths usually more than 4.1 times widths, distinctly shorter to subequal to the lowest lemmas;
calluses glabrous or webbed, webs from minute to more than 1/2 the lemma length;
lemmas 2.5-4 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins short-villous, lateral veins obscure, usually sparsely softly puberulent to short-villous, intercostal regions smooth, sometimes weakly muriculate, glabrous or puberulent, margins glabrous, apices usually partially bronze-colored, obtuse or acute;
palea keels scabrous, glabrous or softly puberulent at midlength, intercostal regions glabrous or softly puberulent;
anthers (1)1.2-2.5 mm, mature sacs 0.2 mm wide, rarely aborted late in development.
= 34, 42, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, 56, 56, 57, 58, 60, 63, 64, 65, 70, 75, 78, ca. 100.
Poa saltuensis
Poa glauca
Poa saltuensis grows in woodlands of the north-central and northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, extending south to Tennessee. The two subspecies are sometimes treated as species. The variation between the two overlaps and is correlated to some extent with ecology and geography. Poa marcida (p. 512), a western species once included in P. saltuensis, differs in having closed sheaths and attenuate lemmas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Poa glauca is a common, highly variable, circumboreal, boreal forest to alpine and high arctic species. It grows from Alaska to Greenland, south to California and New Mexico in the west, and through Canada and the northeastern United States in the east. It also grows at scattered locations in Patagonia. It generally favors dry habitats and tolerates disturbance well. It can be distinguished from P. nemoralis (p. 574) and P. interior (see previous) by its longer ligules, lower top culm node, and wider glumes and lemmas. It can be difficult to distinguish from P. laxa subsp. banffiana (p. 570). Poa glauca is often confused in herbaria with P. abbreviata subsp. pattersonii (p. 582). It differs in having primarily extravaginal branching and, usually, longer anthers. It hybridizes with P. laxa, forming P. laxa x glauca (p. 572). It is also known to hybridize with P. hartzii (p. 589), and is suspected to hybridize with P. arctica (p. 529) and P. secunda (p. 586). It is highly polyploid, and presumed to be highly apomictic.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Anthers 0.4-1 mm long; lemma apices obtuse to acute, firm or scarious for up to 0.25 mm | subsp. languida |
1. Anthers 0.9-1.5 mm long; lemma apices acute to acuminate, scarious for 0.25-0.5 mm | subsp. saltuensis |
1. All or some spikelets bulbiferous | var. pekulnejensis |
1. Spikelets not bulbiferous. | → 2 |
2. Calluses usually webbed, sometimes glabrous; lemmas glabrous or hairy between the veins | subsp. glauca |
2. Calluses glabrous; lemmas hairy between the veins | subsp. rupicola |
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
MD Biodiversity
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
OR
WA
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
