Poa paucispicula Scribn. & Merr.
few-flowered bluegrass (Alaska bluegrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
few-flowered bluegrass (Alaska bluegrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 10-30 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheath margins open 2/5-3/4 their length; blades 1-3 mm wide, flat, thin; ligules 1-2 mm long, the tips blunt to rounded, the backs smooth.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a lax to nearly erect panicle, 2.5-10 cm long, sparse, open, the branches 1 to 2 per node, spreading to reflexed, hairlike, smooth; spikelets laterally compressed, 4-6 mm long, 3- to 5-flowered; glumes lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, thin, the lower ones 1-nerved; rachillas smooth, hairless; lemmas broadly lanceolate, 3-4 mm long, the tips sharp-pointed, usually purple-coloured, surface smooth, keel and marginal nerves silky-hairy, between nerves hairless; calluses sparsely cobwebby; palea keels smooth to rough; flowers bisexual; anthers 0.4-1 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Poa paucispicula
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) |
1772 | 900 | 2590 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
17 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
16 | 20 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 1 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
25 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BAFA | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BAFA(13), cma(2), ESSF(2), IDF(2), IMA(3), SBS(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to moist fellfields, snowbeds and meadows in the alpine zone; frequent throughout BC; amphiberingian, N to AK, YK and NT, E to AB and S to MT and N WA; Asia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Poa glacialis
Poa leptocoma subsp. paucispicula (Scribn. & Merr.) Tzvelev
Poa leptocoma var. paucispicula (Scribn. & Merr.) C.L. Hitchc.
Poa merrilliana Hitchc.