Bluegrass

Bluegrass
	Illustration of bluegrass, 1: Annual bluegrass ( Poa annua ), left ; 2: Bulb bluegrass ( Poa bulbosa ), middle and right
Systematics
	Monocots
	Commelinids
Order :	Sweet grass (Poales)
Family :	Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Subfamily :	Pooideae
Genre :	Bluegrass
Scientific name
	Poa
	L.

The bluegrass ( Poa ) are a genus of plants within the sweet grass family (Poaceae). The approximately 567 species are widespread from subarctic as well as subantarctic to temperate areas almost worldwide and in tropical mountains.

description

Ligule of bluegrass ( Poa pratensis )

Illustration of common bluegrass ( Poa trivialis ) and annual bluegrass ( Poa annua )

Vegetative characteristics

Poa species are rarely annual , mostly herbaceous plants . They sometimes form subterranean runners , more rarely above-ground creeping rungs. The non-flowering side shoots grow up inside or outside the leaf sheath. The stalks are round or laterally compressed and have two to eight knots . In the non-flowering shoots, the leaf sheaths are not, partially or almost completely fused.

The leaves are arranged alternately on the stalk. The ligule is a membranous border. The leaf blades are flat or folded. They have a hooded tip. In the bud position the leaves are folded.

Generative characteristics

The inflorescence is the panicle that gives the genus its name . The panicle is spread out or contracted. The individual spikelets consist of two to ten, rarely one to 15 flowers. Their outline is egg-shaped to elliptical, laterally they are compressed to different degrees.

All single flowers are hermaphroditic. The glumes are equal or unequal, usually have three nerves, or the lower only one nerve. They are pointed or pointed, have a keel, have a thin-skinned edge and are usually bald. The lemmas have five nerves, are narrowly rounded, pointed or pointed and are usually not awned. They rarely have an awn tip up to three millimeters long. The lemmas are whitish-transparent with thin margins, have a keel and are hairy on the back. The palea are two-veined and about the same length as the lemma. They have a distinct keel, which is pointed bristle-haired or ciliate. There are three stamens . The ovary is bare. The two short, terminal styluses end in feathery scars .

When the fruit ripens, the single flowers fall individually from the remaining glumes. The fruit is smooth and bare, has an elongated shape and is triangular in cross section. It is free or fused with the cover and palea. The embryo is about an eighth as long as the fruit. The navel is punctiform and basal.

ingredients

Cyanogenic glycosides have been detected in several Poa species . As storage carbohydrates are fructans stored by phlein type.

Systematics and distribution

Taxonomy

The genus Poa was established in 1753 by Carl von Linné . Synonyms for Poa L. are: Panicularia Heist. ex manufacture nom. superfl., Poagris Raf. nom. superfl., Paneion Lunell nom. superfl., Anthochloa Nees & Meyen , Aphanelytrum Hack. , Austrofestuca (Tzvelev) EBAlexeev , Dasypoa Pilg. , Dissanthelium Trin. , Eremopoa Roshev. , Graminastrum E. HLKrause , Libyella Pamp. , Lindbergella Bor , Lindbergia Bor nom. illeg., Neuropoa Clayton , Ochlopoa (Asch. & Graebn.) H.Scholz , Parodiochloa C.E.Hubb. , Phalaridium Nees & Meyen , Stenochloa Nutt. , Tovarochloa T.D. Macfarl . & But , Tzvelevia E.B. Alexeev .

External system

The genus Poa belongs as the eponymous genus to the tribe Poeae in the subfamily Pooideae within the family of Poaceae .

Species and their distribution

The genus Poa is cosmopolitan , but has its focus in the temperate areas, especially in the northern hemisphere .

Alpine bluegrass ( Poa alpina )

Annual bluegrass ( Poa annua )

Inflorescence (panicle) of meadow bluegrass ( Poa pratensis )

The genus Poa contains about 560 species, of which about 50 occur in Europe. The Central European species are:

Alpine bluegrass ( Poa alpina L. ): It is widespread in Eurasia , North America , Greenland , Mexico , North Africa , especially in the mountains.
Narrow-leaved meadow bluegrass ( Poa angustifolia L. ): It is widespread in Eurasia , Iceland , Greenland, and synanthropic in the New World .
Annual bluegrass ( Poa annua L. ): It is cosmopolitan and absent in Europe only on Svalbard; it occurs in Polynesia, Hawaii, Tristan da Cunha and even in Antarctica (since 1953)
Baden bluegrass ( Poa badensis Haenke ex Willd. ): It is widespread from the Caucasus region and the Balkan Peninsula across Southeast Europe to Central Europe, Switzerland and France.
Bulbous bluegrass or bulb bluegrass ( Poa bulbosa L. ): It is widespread in the Canary Islands , Madeira , North Africa, Eurasia; synanthropic in South Africa, Australia and the New World.
Mont Cenis bluegrass ( Poa cenisia All. ): It thrives in the mountains of Central and Southern Europe and in Turkey.
Forest bluegrass ( Poa chaixii Vill. ); Distribution area: Europe and the Middle East, synanthropic in North America
Compressed bluegrass ( Poa compressa L. ); Distribution area: North Africa, Europe and West Asia, in Central and East Asia as well as in North America, South America, Tasmania and New Zealand synanthropic
Blue bluegrass ( Poa glauca Vahl ); Distribution area: Circumpolar, in Europe, Asia, North America and Greenland, south to northern Greece, the Caucasus and Pakistan
Bluish meadow bluegrass ( Poa humilis Ehrh. Ex Hoffm .; Syn .: Poa subcaerulea J.E. Sm .; Is also referred to as subsp. Irrigata (Lindm.) H. Lindb . F. To Poa pratensis ); Distribution area: Northern and Central Europe, adventurous in Kamchatka and North America

Bastard bluegrass ( Poa hybrida Gaudin ); Distribution area: Alps, Carpathians, mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, Jura

Spring bluegrass ( Poa infirma Kunth ), home: Southern Europe, Western Europe, Northwest Africa, Turkey to India, naturalized in South America, very rare in Central Europe

Flaccid bluegrass ( Poa laxa Haenke ); Distribution area: European mountains from the Pyrenees to the Carpathians

Lesser bluegrass ( Poa minor Gaudin ); Distribution area: Spain, Alps from France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Northern Italy and Slovenia to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Inner Poa alpina ( Poa molinerii Balb. ); Distribution area: mountains of southern and central Europe, from Spain and France to Austria to Greece and Romania

Grove bluegrass ( Poa nemoralis L. ); Distribution area: Europe, Asia, North Africa, in North and South America as well as in South Africa synanthropic

Marsh bluegrass ( Poa palustris L. ); Distribution area: Eurasia and North America, plus Argentina

Cute onion panicle grass or cute panicle grass ( Poa perconcinna J.R. Edmondson , Syn .: Poa concinna Gaudin non R. Br. ); Distribution: in dry valleys of the southern Alps

Meadow bluegrass ( Poa pratensis L. ); Distribution area: Europe, Asia, North Africa, Canary Islands and Madeira, in America, the Bermuda Islands, Azores, Greenland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Juan-Fernandez, Tristan da Cunha, Kerguelen and South Georgia synanthropic

Dwarf bluegrass ( Poa pumila host ) in Northern Italy, Eastern Alps, Slovenia, Balkan Peninsula and Carpathian Mountains

Loose- flowered bluegrass ( Poa remota Forselles ); Distribution area: Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, in North America synanthropic

Styrian bluegrass ( Poa stiriaca Fritsch & Hayek ex Dörfl. ); Home: Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, southern Bosnia , Montenegro, Serbia, Romania

Lager bluegrass ( Poa supina Schrad. ); Distribution area: Europe and Asia, mainly in the mountains

Common bluegrass ( Poa trivialis L. ); Distribution area: Europe, Asia, North Africa, America, Greenland, South Africa, Tasmania, New Zealand, Kerguelen, Tristan da Cunha synanthropic

Other species outside of Central Europe are (selection):

Poa alberti rule : It occurs in five subspecies from Iran to the Himalayas and Mongolia.
Poa arctica R.Br. : It occurs from subarctic to subalpine America.
Poa binata Nees : It occurs from Zimbabwe to southern Africa.
Poa crassicaudex Vickery : It occurs in southern and southeastern Australia.
Poa diaphora Trin. : It occurs in two subspecies and several varieties from Eastern Europe to China and from Egypt to the Himalayas.
Poa fendleriana (Steud.) Vasey : It occurs in two subspecies from Canada to Mexico.
Poa flexuosa Sm .: It occurs in three subspecies in Northern Europe and from subarctic North America to the USA.
Poa gigantea (Tovar) Refulio : It occurs in Peru.
Poa helenae Veldkamp : It occurs in New Guinea.
Poa kilimanjarica (Hedberg) Markgr.-Then. : This endemic occurs only on Kilimanjaro .
Poa longifolia Trin. : It occurs in the Crimea and from Turkey to the Caucasus and Iran.
Poa madecassa A.Camus : It only occurs in Madagascar.
Poa maroccana Nannf. : It occurs in Portugal, Spain and Morocco.
Poa mulalensis Kunth : It occurs in Ecuador.
Poa novae-zelandiae Hack. : It occurs in New Zealand.
Poa papuana Stapf : It occurs in Sulawesi and New Guinea.
Poa pfisteri Soreng : It was first described from Chile in 2008.
Poa populetorum prob . : It wasfirst describedin 2015 from Kamchatka .
Poa ruprechtii Peyr. : It occurs from Mexico to Guatemala.
Poa sandvicensis (Reichardt) Hitchc. : It only occurs in Hawaii.
Poa secunda J. Presl : It occurs in three subspecies and four varieties from Alaska to Mexico and in Chile and Argentina.
Poa sinaica Steud. : It occurs from the eastern Mediterranean to northwestern India.
Poa sunbisinii Soreng & GHZhu : It wasfirst describedin 2006 from Yunnan .
Poa thessala Boiss. & Orph. : It occurs from Greece to the Caucasus region.
Poa versicolor Better : It occurs from Eastern and Southeastern Europe to East Asia.
Poa yatsugatakensis Honda : It occurs in Japan.

No longer counted in this genus:

Poa variegata Lam. (Syn .: Poa violacea Bellardi ) → Violet bluegrass ( Bellardiochloa variegata (Lam.) Kerguélen ): It occurs from Central and Southern Europe to Turkey.

use

Several species, especially the meadow bluegrass ( Poa pratensis ) in Europe, are grown as important meadow and forage grasses.

swell

literature

Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen interactive (CD-Rom), Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2001/2002, ISBN 3-494-01327-6 .
Hans Joachim Conert: Poa. , Pp. 658-710. In: Gustav Hegi : Illustrated flora of Central Europe. 3rd edition, Volume I, Part 3. Paul Parey Publishing House, Berlin, Hamburg, 1996, ISBN 3-8263-3078-1 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad WD Clayton, KT Harman, H. Williamson, 2006: World Grass Species - Synonymy database. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Poa. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved January 29, 2020.
^ Poa at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed June 26, 2019.
^ Poa in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
^ Poa at Tropicos.org. In: Flora of Pakistan . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
^ Manfred A. Fischer , Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 .
↑ Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen interactive (CD-Rom), Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2001/2002, ISBN 3-494-01327-6 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Walter Erhardt et al .: The big zander. Encyclopedia of Plant Names. Volume 2. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7 .
^ Hans Joachim Conert: Poa . In: Gustav Hegi : Illustrated flora of Central Europe . 3rd ed., Volume I, Part 3, pages 658-710. Paul Parey Publishing House, Berlin, Hamburg, 1996, ISBN 3-8263-3078-1 .
^ ^A ^b Hans Joachim Conert: Poa. , Pp. 658-710. In: Gustav Hegi : Illustrated flora of Central Europe. 3rd edition, Volume I, Part 3, Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin, Hamburg, 1996, ISBN 3-8263-3078-1 .