Poa wolfii |
Poa paucispicula |
|
---|---|---|
Wolf's bluegrass |
Alaska blue grass, few-flower bluegrass |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous, loosely tufted. | Plants perennial; slightly or loosely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. |
Culms | 25-90 cm. |
10-30 cm. |
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 1/4 - 3/5 their length, terete; ligules 1-2 mm, smooth or sparsely scabrous, truncate to obtuse; blades 1-3 mm wide, flat, thin, soft, apices broadly prow-shaped. |
Basal branching | mainly pseudointravaginal. |
mainly extravaginal. |
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. |
2.5-10 cm, lax to nearly erect, open, sparse, with 1-2 branches per node; branches (2)3-6 cm, ascending to spreading, lower branches infrequently reflexed, lax or drooping, capillary, terete to slightly sulcate, usually smooth, rarely some branches within a panicle sparsely scabrous, with 1-3(5) spikelets. |
Spikelets | 4-6.5 mm, laterally compressed; florets 2-5; rachilla internodes to 1 mm, smooth, glabrous. |
4-6 mm, laterally compressed, broadly lanceolate to ovate, usually dark purple, with 3-5 florets; rachilla internodes smooth, 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. |
lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, thin, distinctly keeled, keels smooth or nearly so; lower glumes 1-veined; upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas; calluses sparsely webbed; lemmas 3-4 mm, broadly lanceolate, usually strongly purple, distinctly keeled, thin, keels and marginal veins short- to long-villous, keels hairy for 1/2-1/3 their length, lateral veins glabrous, intercostal regions smooth, glabrous, margins glabrous, not infolded, apices acute, sometimes slightly bronze-colored; palea keels sparsely scabrous at midlength; anthers 0.4-1 mm. |
2n | = 28. |
= 28, 42. |
Poa wolfii |
Poa paucispicula |
|
Distribution |
AR; IA; IL; IN; MN; MO; OH; VA; WI
|
AK; MT; WA; AB; BC; NT; YT
|
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 paucispicula grows in arctic and alpine regions, from the north coast of Alaska and the western Northwest Territories south to Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming; it also grows in arctic far east Russia. It is a delicate species that prefers open, mesic, rocky slopes. It has sometimes been included in P. leptocoma (p. 573), a member of Poa sect. Oreinos. It differs from P. leptocoma in having smoother branches, fewer spikelets, and broader glumes. Chloroplast DNA studies confirm that it is not closely related to species of sect. Oreinos; ITS data support its relationship to P. leptocoma. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 514. | FNA vol. 24, p. 538. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Sylvestres | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Homalopoa |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. leptocoma var. paucispicula, P. leptocoma subsp. paucispicula | |
Name authority | Scribn. | Scribn. & Merr. |
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