>IOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



110b. Panicles dense and compact, cylindrical, with overlapping spike- 

 lets. Fig. 146. 



TEXAS BLUEGRASS Poa arachniiera Ton. 



Perennial; rhizomes present; plants 

 producing leafy tufts; culms 30 — 75 cm. 

 tall; leaf blades dark green, 2 — 4 mm. 

 wide, scabrous on the upper surface; 

 panicles lobed, 5 — 12 cm. long; spike- 

 lets usually with 5 — 10 florets. The 

 staminate and pistillate spikelets are on 

 different plants, and the two kinds are 

 quite different in appearance. The pis- 

 tillate panicles are wooly due to the 

 presence of copious cottony webs on the 

 lemmas. The staminate inflorescences 

 are not woolly, their lemmas having 

 only small webs or none at all. The 

 plants are succulent and very leafy; they 

 provide excellent forage in winter and 

 spring. Sometimes cultivated for for- 

 age in the southeastern states. April — 

 May. 



Figure 146 



Poa macrantha Vasey is also dioecious. It is a sand-binder on the 

 coastal dunes from Washington to northern California. The plants 

 have extensive rhizomes and stolons. Spikelets large, about 12 mm. 

 long; webs scanty. 



Ilia. Lower panicle branches mostly in pairs; lemmas 3.5 — 5.4 mm. 

 long; anthers 2.0 — 3.5 mm. long. Fig. 147. 



Poa cuspidata Nutt. 



Perennial; rhizomes present; culms 30 — 

 50 cm. tall; plants growing in large tufts, 

 with numerous long basal leaves nearly 

 as long as the culms; leaf blades soft, 2 — 3 

 mm. wide; upper culm blades very short, 

 rounded to an abrupt tip; panicles 7 — 12 

 cm. long, very open, pyramidal, the spike- 

 lets all borne at the outer tips of the 

 branches. This is the earhest blooming 

 of all the native eastern grasses, usually 

 i^^r*/ beginning to flower in early April in the 



^^^ /Ns^^^ North. It is a plant of the central and 



00^~~~^ southern Appalachians, where it is com- 



monly found on rocky banks and dry 

 wooded hillsides. Unhke Kentucky blue- 

 grass, which it resembles, it completely 



Figure 147 



lacks aggressive or weedy tendencies. 



77 



