Poa stenantha
Poa sect. Secundae
narrow-flower bluegrass, northern bluegrass
20-60(100) cm, bases decumbent or sometimes erect, terete, with 1-2 exserted nodes.
10-120 cm, capillary to stout, terete or weakly compressed;
nodes terete.
closed for 1/10 – 1/5(1/4) their length, terete, bases of basal sheaths glabrous;
ligules 2-5 mm, milky white, smooth or sparsely scabrous, acute to acuminate;
innovation blades similar in texture and shape to the cauline blades;
cauline blades not greatly reduced upwards, 1.5-4(5) mm wide, flat or folded, thin, lax, smooth or sparsely scabrous, apices narrowly prow-shaped.
closed for 1/10-1/3 their length, terete, smooth or scabrous, distal sheaths usually longer than their blades;
ligules 0.5-7(10) mm, smooth or scabrous, apices truncate to acuminate;
blades 0.4-3(5) mm wide, flat, folded, or involute, thin to moderately thick, soft and soon withering or moderately firm and persisting, smooth or scabrous mainly over the veins and margins, apices narrowly prow-shaped.
mostly extravaginal, some intravaginal.
mixed intra- and extravaginal to completely intravaginal.
5-18(25) cm, lax, loosely contracted to open, sparse, with 20-65 spikelets and usually 2(7) branches per node;
branches 3-15 cm, ascending to spreading, angled, angles finely to coarsely, sparsely to fairly densely scabrous, infrequently smooth, with 3-10(15) spikelets in the distal 1/2.
2-25(30) cm, erect or somewhat lax, narrowly lanceoloid to ovoid, usually contracted, sometimes open and pyramidal, sparse to congested, with 7-100(120) spikelets;
nodes with 1-4(7) branches;
branches 0.5-15 cm, erect to spreading, terete, sulcate or angled, smooth or the angles sparsely to densely scabrous, sometimes scabrous between the angles.
6-10 mm, lengths 3-3.6 times widths, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, laterally compressed, sometimes bulbiferous, drab, often slightly glaucous;
florets 3-4(7), normal or bulb-forming;
rachilla internodes 1.2-2 mm, slightly dorsally compressed, smooth or sparsely muriculate.
(4)4.5-10 mm, lengths 3-5 times widths, terete to weakly laterally compressed or distinctly compressed, sometimes bulbiferous;
florets (2)3-5(10), usually normal and bisexual, sometimes bulb-forming.
subequal, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, dull, frequently glaucous, obtuse to acute;
lower glumes 3-veined;
upper glumes (3.7)4.1-6.5 mm;
calluses usually crowned with 0.2-2 mm hairs, sometimes glabrous;
lemmas 4-6 mm, lanceolate, distinctly compressed, distinctly keeled, keels, marginal veins, and sometimes the lateral veins short- to long-villous, hairs extending for 3/4 of the keel, intercostal regions glabrous, sparsely puberulent or hispidulous proximally, usually sparsely to moderately densely scabrous distally, hairs distinctly shorter than those of the keel and veins, margins weakly inrolled, broadly scarious, glabrous, apices acute;
palea keels scabrous, often softly puberulent at midlength, intercostal regions glabrous or puberulent;
anthers 1.2-2 mm, sometimes aborted late in development or undeveloped.
lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, shorter than to subequal to the adjacent lemmas, keels indistinct to distinct, smooth or scabrous;
lower glumes 3-veined;
calluses terete or slightly dorsally compressed, glabrous or with a crown of hairs, hairs to 2 mm;
lemmas 3-7 mm, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate or slightly oblanceolate, weakly to distinctly keeled, glabrous or the keels and marginal veins and sometimes the lateral veins with hairs, obscure, intercostal regions glabrous or with hairs;
anthers 3, 1.2-3.5 mm, sometimes aborted late in development.
= 42, [81, 84, 86?].
Poa stenantha
Poa sect. Secundae
Poa stenantha grows in coastal meadows and on cliffs in subarctic and boreal forests; it is less common in moist, more southern subalpine and low alpine meadows and thickets. Its range extends from western Alaska to the northern Cascades and Rocky Mountains and, as a disjunct, to Patagonia. Poa stenantha was originally described as growing in Kamchatka, Russia, but the Russian plants have since been referred to other species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Poa sect. Secundae includes nine North American species. Two of the species also grow as disjuncts in South America. One species grows on high arctic islands in the Eastern Hemisphere. All the species tend to grow in arid areas, sometimes on wetlands within such areas. One species is confined to dry bluffs along the Pacific coast. All the species are primarily cespitose, but hybridization with members of Poa sect. Poa results in the formation of rhizomatous plants. Typically, members of sect. Secundae have sheaths that are closed for V10-1/4 their length, contracted panicles, and anthers that are 1.2-3.5 mm long.
There are two subsections in the Flora region: subsects. Secundae and Halophytae.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spikelets not bulbiferous | var. stenantha |
1. Spikelets bulbiferous | var. vivipara |
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