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Wolf's bluegrass

Leiberg's blue grass

Habit Plants perennial; not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous, loosely tufted. Plants perennial; densely tufted, tufts slender, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous.
Culms

25-90 cm.

5-35 cm tall, 0.5-0.7 mm thick, erect or the bases decumbent, with 0-1 exserted nodes.

Sheaths

closed for 1/2 - 3/4 their length, smooth or sparsely scabrous, margins not ciliate;

ligules 0.3-2.1 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, truncate to obtuse, ciliolate;

blades 0.6-3.5 mm wide, flat.

closed for 2/5 – 4/5 their length, terete, smooth and glabrous, bases of basal sheaths glabrous;

collars smooth, glabrous;

ligules (1)2-4 mm, colorless, transparent, smooth, margins decurrent or not, apices truncate to acute, ligules of innovation and cauline leaves alike;

innovation blades smooth or sparsely scabrous abaxially;

cauline blades 0.5-1 mm wide, flat, folded, or involute, thin, lax, filiform, usually soon withering, both surfaces smooth or sparsely scabrous, apices narrowly prow-shaped.

Basal branching

mainly pseudointravaginal.

intravaginal.

Panicles

7.5-15(18) cm, lax, pyramidal, open, sparse;

nodes with 1-3(5) branches;

branches 3-8 cm, ascending, straight to spreading, angled, angles prominent, scabrous.

1-5(8) cm, erect to lax, lanceoloid to ovoid or pyramidal, contracted to open, sparse, with (1)6-17(22) spikelets;

nodes with 1-2 branches;

branches 1-4 cm, erect to spreading, slender, terete, smooth or sparsely to rarely moderately densely scabrous, with 1-2(3) spikelets.

Spikelets

4-6.5 mm, laterally compressed;

florets 2-5;

rachilla internodes to 1 mm, smooth, glabrous.

4-8 mm, lengths to 3 times widths, broadly lanceolate to broadly ovate, laterally compressed, not sexually dimorphic;

florets 2-8;

rachilla internodes glabrous.

Glumes

1/2-1/3 the length of the adjacent lemmas, distinctly keeled, keels scabrous;

lower glumes subulate to narrowly lanceolate, (1)3-veined;

upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas;

calluses webbed;

lemmas (2.5)3.2-4.7 mm, lanceolate, green, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins long-villous, hairs extending up almost the whole keel length, lateral veins prominent, intercostal regions smooth, minutely bumpy, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely softly puberulent, apices acute, blunt, or pointed, white, not bronze;

palea keels softly puberulent at midlength, apices scabrous;

anthers (0.5)0.8-1.2(1.5) mm.

thin, somewhat lustrous, distinctly keeled;

lower glumes 3-veined, distinctly shorter than the lowest lemmas;

calluses glabrous;

lemmas 3.5-7 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thinly membranous, smooth or scabrous, glabrous, lateral veins moderately prominent to prominent, margins glabrous, apices acute to truncate and erose;

palea keels smooth or scabrous, glabrous or pectinately ciliate;

anthers vestigial (0.1-0.2 mm) or 1.3-3 mm.

2n

= 28.

= unknown.

Poa wolfii

Poa leibergii

Distribution
from FNA
AR; IA; IL; IN; MN; MO; OH; VA; WI
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Poa wolfii is an uncommon species that grows in boggy areas of eastern deciduous forests, primarily west of the Appalachian divide. It differs from P. sylvestris (p. 512) in having fewer branches, larger spikelets, and lemmas that are usually glabrous between the veins.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Poa leibergii grows on mossy ledges and around vernal pools and the outer margins of Camassia swales, in sagebrush desert to low alpine habitats, especially where snow persists. It is found primarily on and around the basaltic Columbia plateaus, and is gynodioecious. All reports of P. leibergii from California, and most of those from Nevada, are based on misidentified specimens of P. cusickii subsp. cusickii (p. 560) and P. stebbinsii (p. 564).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 514. FNA vol. 24, p. 563.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Sylvestres Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Madropoa > subsect. Epiles
Sibling taxa
P. abbreviata, P. alpina, P. alsodes, P. ammophila, P. annua, P. arachnifera, P. arctica, P. arida, P. arnowiae, P. atropurpurea, P. autumnalis, P. bigelovii, P. bolanderi, P. bulbosa, P. chaixii, P. chambersii, P. chapmaniana, P. compressa, P. confinis, P. curtifolia, P. cusickii, P. cuspidata, P. diaboli, P. douglasii, P. eminens, P. fendleriana, P. glauca, P. hartzii, P. howellii, P. infirma, P. interior, P. keckii, P. kelloggii, P. laxa, P. laxa × glauca, P. laxiflora, P. leibergii, P. leptocoma, P. lettermanii, P. macrantha, P. macrocalyx, P. marcida, P. napensis, P. nemoralis, P. nervosa, P. occidentalis, P. paludigena, P. palustris, P. paucispicula, P. piperi, P. porsildii, P. pratensis, P. pringlei, P. pseudoabbreviata, P. reflexa, P. rhizomata, P. saltuensis, P. secunda, P. sierrae, P. stebbinsii, P. stenantha, P. strictiramea, P. sublanata, P. suksdorfii, P. supina, P. sylvestris, P. tenerrima, P. tracyi, P. trivialis, P. unilateralis, P. wheeleri, P. ×gaspensis, P. ×limosa, P. ×nematophylla
P. abbreviata, P. alpina, P. alsodes, P. ammophila, P. annua, P. arachnifera, P. arctica, P. arida, P. arnowiae, P. atropurpurea, P. autumnalis, P. bigelovii, P. bolanderi, P. bulbosa, P. chaixii, P. chambersii, P. chapmaniana, P. compressa, P. confinis, P. curtifolia, P. cusickii, P. cuspidata, P. diaboli, P. douglasii, P. eminens, P. fendleriana, P. glauca, P. hartzii, P. howellii, P. infirma, P. interior, P. keckii, P. kelloggii, P. laxa, P. laxa × glauca, P. laxiflora, P. leptocoma, P. lettermanii, P. macrantha, P. macrocalyx, P. marcida, P. napensis, P. nemoralis, P. nervosa, P. occidentalis, P. paludigena, P. palustris, P. paucispicula, P. piperi, P. porsildii, P. pratensis, P. pringlei, P. pseudoabbreviata, P. reflexa, P. rhizomata, P. saltuensis, P. secunda, P. sierrae, P. stebbinsii, P. stenantha, P. strictiramea, P. sublanata, P. suksdorfii, P. supina, P. sylvestris, P. tenerrima, P. tracyi, P. trivialis, P. unilateralis, P. wheeleri, P. wolfii, P. ×gaspensis, P. ×limosa, P. ×nematophylla
Synonyms P. vaseyochloa
Name authority Scribn. Scribn.
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