E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Poa howellii Vasey & Scribn.
Howell's bluegrass
Poaceae (Grass family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Ryan Batten  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #67050)

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Distribution of Poa howellii
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Species Information

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General:
Annual tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 25-80 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheath margins open 1/7-1/2 their length; blades 1-7 mm wide, flat, gradually tapered to the tips; ligules 1.5-5 (10) mm long, the backs smooth.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an erect panicle, 10-25 cm long, open, the branches (1) 3 to 5 (7) per node, ascending in flower, spreading to reflexed in fruit, generally moderately to distinctly rough; spikelets laterally compressed, 4-6 mm long, 3- to 5-flowered; lower glumes 1- to 3-nerved; rachilla internodes about 1 mm long, hairless or hairy; lemmas 2.5-3.5 mm long, evenly crisply short-hairy below, lateral nerves obscure; calluses cobwebby; palea keels rough, somewhat short-hairy; anthers 0.2-1 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic grassy meadows and dry Garry oak woodlands and rock outcrops in the lowland zone; infrequent in extreme SW BC; S to CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Poa bolanderi subsp. howellii (Vasey & Scribn.) D.D. Keck
Poa bolanderi var. howellii (Vasey & Scribn.) M.E. Jones

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References