Poa
2008752
217847636
2008-06-07T23:48:33Z
Alan Liefting
36352
NZ info.
{{ otheruses|POA }}
{{ distinguish|Poá }}
{{Taxobox
| name = ''Poa''
| image = Poa annua.jpg
| image_width = 300px
| image_caption = ''Poa annua'' (Annual Meadow-grass)
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Poales]]
| familia = [[Poaceae]]
| genus = '''''Poa'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
About 500 species, including:<br/>
''[[Poa abbreviata]]'' - Short Bluegrass<br/>
''[[Poa alpigena]]'' - Northern Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa alpina]]'' - Alpine Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa alsodes]]'' - Grove Bluegrass<br/>
''[[Poa angustifolia]]'' - Narrow-leaved Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa annua]]'' - Annual Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa arachnifera]]'' - Texas Bluegrass<br/>
''[[Poa arctica]]'' - Arctic Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa badensis]]'' <br/>
''[[Poa bulbosa]]'' - Bulbous Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa cita]]'' - Silver Tussock<br/>
''[[Poa compressa]]'' - Flattened Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa chaixii]]'' - Broad-leaved Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa chathamica]]''<br/>
''[[Poa colensoi]]'' - Blue Tussock<br/>
''[[Poa douglasii]]'' - Douglas Bluegrass<br/>
''[[Poa dura]]''<br/>
''[[Poa flabellata]]''<br/>
''[[Poa flexuosa]]'' - Wavy Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa glauca]]'' - Glaocous Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa infirma]]'' - Early Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa iridifolia]]''<br/>
''[[Poa labillardieri]]''<br/>
''[[Poa nemoralis]]'' - Wood Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa palustris]]'' - Swamp Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Smooth Meadow-grass|Poa pratensis]]'' - Smooth Meadow-grass, Kentucky bluegrass<br/>
''[[Poa seconda]]'' - Sandberg's Bluegrass<br>
''[[Poa subcaerulea]]'' - Spreading Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa supina]]'' - Creeping Meadow-grass<br/>
''[[Poa trivialis]]'' - Rough Meadow-grass
}}
[[Image:Bluegrass-stem.jpg|thumb|left|Stem showing why it's called "bluegrass." The seed pods go from green to purplish blue to brown. During the purplish blue phase the seed stems have a navy blue coating.]]
[[Image:Ruwbeemdgras Poa trivialis ligula.jpg|left|thumb|Rough Meadow-grass ''Poa trivialis'' showing the ligule structure]]
'''''Poa''''' is a [[genus]] of about 500 [[species]] of [[Poaceae|grass]]es, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include '''meadow-grass''' (mainly [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]), '''bluegrass''' (mainly [[North America]]), '''tussock''' (some [[New Zealand]] species), and '''speargrass'''.
Bluegrass, which has green leaves, derives its name from the seed heads which are blue when the plant is allowed to grow to its natural height of two to three feet.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2D7143CF930A35755C0A965958260 What Makes Kentucky's Bluegrass Blue - New York Times - June 3, 1993]</ref>
One species, [[Smooth Meadow-grass]] ''Poa pratensis'', is the [[biological type|type species]] of the family [[Poaceae]].
The genus ''Poa'' includes both [[annual plant|annual]] and [[perennial plant|perennial]] species. Most are [[plant sexuality|monoecious]], but a few are [[plant sexuality|dioecious]] (separate male and female plants). The [[leaf|leaves]] are narrow, folded or flat, sometimes bristled, and with the basal sheath flattened or sometimes thickened, with a blunt or hooded apex and membranaceous ligule.
==Cultivation and uses==
Many of the species are important [[pasture]] plants, used extensively by [[grazing]] [[livestock]]. Kentucky bluegrass (''[[Poa pratensis]]'') is the most extensively used cool-season grass used in [[lawn]]s, sports fields, and [[golf course]]s in the United States.<ref>{{cite web
| last =Dvorchak
| first =Robert
| title =Oakmont-inspired Stimpmeter allows USGA to accurately measure speed, consistency of putting surfaces
| publisher =Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
| date =June 13, 2007
| url =http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07164/793591-382.stm
| accessdate =2007-09-08}}</ref> Annual bluegrass (''[[Poa annua]]'') can sometimes be considered a weed.<ref>{{cite web
| last =Ohlendorf
| first =B.
| coauthors =D. W. Cudney, Botany and Plant Sciences, UC Riverside; C. L. Elmore, Vegetable Crops/Weed Science, UC Davis; and V. A. Gibeault, Botany and Plant Sciences, UC Riverside
| title =Annual Bluegrass Management Guidelines--UC IPM
| publisher =University of California
| date =April, 2003
| url =http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7464.html
| accessdate =2007-09-08 }}</ref>
<br clear = left>
Since the 1950s/early 1960s 90 percent of the seed has been produced on farms in [[Idaho]], [[Oregon]] and [[Washington]].<ref>[http://www.wkarc.org/Swrec/Research/CroppingSystems/index.asp Western Kansas Agricultural Resource Centers Bluegrass Production Report]</ref>
Some of the ''Poa'' species are popular for gardens and for landscaping in New Zealand.
==Insect foodplant==
[[Lepidoptera]] whose caterpillars feed on ''Poa'' include:
* [[Hobomok Skipper]], ''Poanes hobomok''
* [[Zabulon Skipper]], ''Poanes zabulon''
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commonscat}}
[[Category:Grasses]]
[[Category:Lawn grasses]]
[[Category:Flora of Europe]]
[[Category:Flora of Estonia]]
[[Category:Flora of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Flora of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Poa| ]]
{{Poales-stub}}
[[ca:Poa]]
[[cs:Lipnice (rod rostlin)]]
[[da:Rapgræs]]
[[de:Rispengräser]]
[[es:Poa]]
[[fr:Pâturin]]
[[hsb:Lipnica]]
[[is:Sveifgrös]]
[[ka:თივაქასრა]]
[[lt:Miglė]]
[[pl:Wiechlina]]
[[pt:Poa]]
[[ru:Мятлик]]
[[sk:Lipnica]]
[[sv:Gröen]]