Poa secunda
- Latin Name: Poa secunda
- Family: Poaceae
- Common Names: big bluegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Sandberg's bluegrass, Nevada bluegrass
- Synonyms/Misapplications: Poa fulvescens, Poa tenuifolia
- CODON: POASEC
Contents
Taxonomy
| Poa secunda | |
|---|---|
| |
| Photo by Robert L. Carr. Also featured on Main Page. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Subkingdom: | Tracheobionta |
| Phylum: | Spermatophyta |
| Subphylum: | Magnoliophyta |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida |
| Subclass: | Lilianae |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Poa L. |
| Species: | Poa secunda J. Presl |
Description
Densely tufted perennial herb. Leaf sheaths are nearly open, generally truncate to acuminate. Variable structure in terms of stiffness and margin flatness. Inflorescence is more or less one-sided, generally appressed to rachis to ascending. The spikelet is generally more or less cylindrical, the callus hairless or with a small ring of hairs. Lemma weakly keeled to rounded. [1]
Bloom Period
April-July[2]
Distribution
From Southeastern Alaska across southern Canada, although more sporadically east of the Rockies. Throughout the western states of the US and Great Plains, infrequently in New Mexico and Arizona.[3]
Habitat
Sagebrush deserts, mountain meadows, open forest, lower alpine slopes, saline wetlands, chaparral, prairies.[3][4]
It grows well in rich soils but most commonly grows in rocky, shallow, or sandy soils.[3]
Uses
Documentation of Newe use of seeds as food.[5]
Poa secunda greens up in the spring earlier than other grasses, and is a desirable forage for grazing animals, and increases under grazing pressure. It regenerates after fire, and because of early growth, is often dormant when fires occur.[3]
Propagation
Reproduces by tillering and by seed. P. secunda is wind-pollinated and self-fertile, and can also produce viable seeds without pollination.[3]
Photo Gallery
Photo by Robert L. Carr
Photo by Robert L. Carr
References
- ↑ Robert J. Soreng 2012, Poa secunda, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, /eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38882, accessed on June 02, 2020.
- ↑ WTU Herbarium, Burke Museum, & University of Washington. Retrieved from https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Poa%20secunda
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Howard, Janet L. 1997. Poa secunda. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/poasec/all.html [2020, June 2]
- ↑ Hitchcock, C. L., Cronquist, A., Giblin, D., & Legler, B. et al. (2018). Flora of the Pacific Northwest: an illustrated manual. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
- ↑ Native American Ethnobotany Database. Retrieved from http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=poa+secunda
