Poa alpina L.
alpine blue grass (alpine bluegrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
alpine blue grass (alpine bluegrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Poa alpina ssp. alpina
Species Information
General:
Perennial, densely tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 10-40 cm tall.
Leaves:
Mostly basal, not glaucous; sheath margins open about 3/4 their length, basal sheaths persistent, densely overlapping; sterile shoots emerging strictly inside sheaths with distinct two-keeled buds protecting the scales; blades 2-4.5 mm wide, flat, thick, short, basal ones widely spreading, persisting through the season, upper stem ones much reduced in length; ligules rounded at tips, those of the sterile shoot leaves 1-2 (3) mm long, those of upper stem leaves up to 4 (5) mm long, backs smooth, hairless.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an erect panicle, 2-6 (8) cm long, egg-shaped to pyramidal, congested, contracted at maturity, terminal internodes 0.6-1 (1.5) cm long, the branches 1 to 2 per node, ascending to spreading, round, smooth or very slightly rough (rarely distinctly rough all around), the stalks widely spreading from the tips; spikelets laterally compressed, broadly lanceolate to egg-shaped, 3.9-6.2 mm long, 3- to 7-flowered; glumes broadly lanceolate, the lower 3-nerved; rachilla internodes less than 1 mm long, smooth, hairless; lemmas broadly lanceolate, 3-5 mm long, the tips sharp-pointed, keels and marginal nerves silky-hairy, sparsely to moderately short silky-hairy between the nerves; calluses hairless; paleas mostly minutely soft- to silky-hairy, the keels rough near the tips; flowers bisexual; anthers 1.3-2.3 mm long.
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Poa alpina
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1931 | 5 | 3000 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
26 | 0 | 300 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
189 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
1058 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(130), BAFA(232), BWBS(1), CMA(4), CWH(2), ESSF(438), ICH(1), IMA(74), MH(17), MS(3), SBPS(3), SBS(1), SWB(47) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to wet meadows, gravel bars, avalanche tracks and talus slopes in the montane to alpine zones; common throughout BC; circumboreal, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and NS, and S to MI, OR, CO, UT and NM; Greenland, Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Poa alpina subsp. vivipara (L.) Arcang.
Poa alpina var. vivipara L.
Poa vivipara (L.) Willd.