Meadow bluegrass

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Meadow bluegrass
Panicle of the meadow bluegrass

Panicle of the meadow bluegrass

Systematics
Commelinids
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Subfamily : Pooideae
Genre : Bluegrass ( Poa )
Type : Meadow bluegrass
Scientific name
Poa pratensis
L.

The meadow bluegrass ( Poa pratensis ) is one of the most widespread and most frequently sown sweet grasses (Poaceae) in Europe for lawns and pastures .

features

Stem with leaf sheath and typically sloping ligule
The leaves have a double groove in the middle.
Meadow bluegrass. Poa pratensis. Plate 452 from Mentz & Ostenfeld 1917ff. Vol. 2 .: Fig. 1. Lower part of the tuft of grass with a runner that also ends in a tuft of grass. Fig. 2. Upper part. Fig. 3. Upper part of a leaf sheath with a ligule. Fig. 4. Spikelets (5/1)
Poa pratensis, illustration
Leaf with hood tip
Panicle with spikelets
Disassembled spikelet with two glumes (Glu) and three flowers each encased in cape (Lem) and palea (Pal)

The loose, turf-forming , perennial grass usually reaches heights of 20 to 60 cm and its color is fresh green to gray-green. Some subspecies are much smaller or have blue-green frosting. The leaves are about 5 mm wide, with some subspecies also significantly narrower. Its edges are parallel and drawn together at the top in a short, hood-shaped point. The ligula is present, but rarely more than 2 mm long.

The loosely upright panicle , pyramidal in outline, consists of numerous 4 to 6 mm long spikelets . The panicle is often purple, in the mountains it is also blackish. The lowest panicle branches are usually made up of four, sometimes three or five. The two lemmas are clearly five-nerved and usually hang together with their shaggy hair. The rooting consists of long underground creeping shoots, fine tufted shoot roots and ascending leaf and shoot shoots. The flowering period lasts from May to July.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 28, 50-78 or 124.

distribution

The meadow bluegrass occurs in the temperate areas of the entire northern hemisphere ( Eurasia , North Africa , North America ). To the south, the area extends to northern Mexico. It was introduced to Australia and Antarctica. In Central Europe it is widespread and common, from the lowlands to the high Alpine regions.

It likes to grow on summer-warm, nutrient-rich, not too wet and not too dry clay soils in meadows , on alpine pastures , on roadsides or also in ruderal areas . It is a species of character of the class Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. It rises in the Alps to an altitude of 2376 meters above sea level.

Systematics

The meadow bluegrass is also combined with related species to form an aggregate. Other authors put these related species as subspecies of the meadow bluegrass. These are:

  • Poa angustifolia L. as Poa pratensis subsp. angustifolia (L.) Gaudin
  • Poa humilis Ehrh. ex Hoffm. as Poa pratensis subsp. irrigata (Lindm.) Lindb. f. (Syn .: Poa subcaerulea Sm. , Poa athroostachya Oett. )

Others

The meadow bluegrass is one of the most valuable forage grasses and is very often sown on pastures. Most lawn mixes also contain a good percentage, as it is relatively hard-wearing and tolerates drought well.

Due to its frequency, it is one of the main causes of hay fever during its heyday .

There are numerous subspecies and forms, some of which can differ considerably in appearance and usability.

The species Poa pratensis has given its name to the bluegrass music genre with its blue-green leaves, especially in Kentucky due to the nature of the soil .

The bluegrass is often attacked by bluegrass .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Stuttgart, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 2001. ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 224.
  2. ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Poa pratensis. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 , p. 187.
  5. ↑ Recognize - understand - avoid plant diseases : Puccinia poae-nemoralis GH Otth.

Web links

Commons : Poa pratensis  - album with pictures, videos and audio files