Marsh bluegrass
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Marsh bluegrass ( Poa palustris ) |
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The marsh bluegrass ( Poa palustris ) is a species of the genus bluegrass ( Poa ) and thus the family of sweet grasses (Poaceae).
description
The marsh bluegrass is a perennial grass that only exists for a few years. It develops loose clumps or lawns. It develops a short rhizome with creeping shoots above ground, but without any underground runners. The stalks reach heights of 20–120 cm, are smooth and glabrous, prostrate at the base and rooting at the nodes. The ligule of the renewal shoot is a 2 mm long, broadly rounded edge; that of the upper stalk leaves is 2–5 mm long. The leaf blades are up to 20 cm long and 2–4 mm wide. The flower panicle is 10–20 cm long, spread out, upright, only slightly nodding in the upper part. The side branches about 3–7 from the main axis, are of unequal length and often tortuous. The spikelets are 2–5 flowered, 3–5 mm long, laterally compressed, yellowish-brown and often tinged with purple. The glumes are three-veined. The lemma is five-nerved, 2.5–3 mm long, membranous, green, with a conspicuous golden brown tip. The palea is double-veined and as long as the lemma. The anthers are 1.2-1.5 mm long. The flowering period is June to August.
The chromosome number is 2n = 21, 28, 30, 32 or 42.
distribution
The swamp bluegrass is widespread in the temperate zones of the northern hemisphere. In Europe , the species is particularly absent in the west and partly also in the south. The species has been grown and naturalized in Ireland and Great Britain since 1814.
ecology
The swamp bluegrass occurs in Central Europe in reed beds or in sedimentary meadows on wet or flooded-alternately wet, nutrient-rich and base-rich, mild to moderately acidic, humus-rich muddy soils. It particularly thrives on the banks of flowing waters. It is a weak character species of the Phalaridetum arundinariae from the association Phragmition, but also occurs in societies of the associations Magnocaricion, Calthion or Alnion. It is also occasionally found ruderally on dry ground, in garbage dumps, on streets and paths. It rises in the Bavarian Alps to altitudes of 1500 meters above sea level, in Graubünden up to 1510 meters.
Galls of the gall mosquito Mayetiola poae are often found on the stem .
Taxonomy
Poa palustris was created by Carl von Linné in Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 874 (1759) first described. Synonyms are Poa riparia Wolff ex Hoffm. , Poa serotina Ehrh. ex Hoffm. , Poa crocata Michx. and Poa fertilis host .
use
Marsh bluegrass is the best forage grass in wet locations where other grasses fail. Goats especially like to eat it. It sprouts early and is insensitive to late frosts. It tolerates moderate shading and weak soil salinization.
literature
- Hans Joachim Conert: Poa palustris . In: Gustav Hegi : Illustrated flora of Central Europe . 3rd ed., Volume I, Part 3, pages 701-702. Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin, Hamburg, 1987. ISBN 3-489-52320-2 (description, distribution, ecology, use)
Individual evidence
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 224 .
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Poa palustris. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved June 13, 2020.