128 MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEFT. OF AGPJCULTURE 



branches erect or ascending, few-flowered; spikelets mostly 2- or 3- 

 flowered, 5 to 6 mm long; lemmas 3 to 4 mm long, strongly pubescent 

 on the lower half of the keel and marginal nerves and slightly pubes- 

 cent on the faint intermediate nerves. % — Rocky slopes, arctic 



regions south to the alpine summits of New 

 Hampshire and Vermont. Common in 

 Greenland. 



46. Poa laxa Haenke. (Fig. 233.) 

 Plants in loose lax bunches; culms weak 

 and slender, 10 to 20 or sometimes 30 

 cm tall; ligule truncate, about 1 mm long; 

 blades mostly basal, lax, mostly about 1 

 mm wide; panicle narrow but loose, few- 

 flowered, 2 to 6 cm 

 long, the branches 

 ascending, naked 

 below; spikelets 2- 

 to 4-flowered, about 

 5 mm long ; lemmas 

 3 to 3.5 mm long, 

 densely villous on 

 the lower half of the 



keel and marginal nerves, sometimes 

 sparsely webbed at base. % — Rocky 

 slopes, Newfoundland and Quebec to the 

 alpine summits of Maine, New Hampshire, 

 Vermont, and New York (fig. 234) ; Europe. 

 Common on the upper cone of Mount 

 Washington. 



47. Poa pattersoni Vasey. Patterson 

 bluegrass. (Fig. 235.) Culms in dense 



tufts with numerous basal leaves, 10 to 20 cm tall; blades usually 

 folded, rather lax, mostly less than 10 cm long, about 1 mm wide; 



Figuee 231.— Distribution of 

 Poa stenantha. 



Figure 230. — Poa stenantha. Panicle, 

 X 1; floret, X 10. (Blankinship, 

 Mont.) 



Figure 232. — Poa glauca. 

 Panicle, XI; floret, X 10. 

 (Hitchcock 16053, N.H.) 



Figure 233.— Poa 

 laxa. Panicle, X 1; 

 floret, X 10. (Fer- 

 nald, Maine.) 



Figure 234.— Distribution of 

 Poa laxa. 



panicle narrow, condensed, purplish, 1 to 4 cm long; spikelets 2- 

 or 3-flowered, 5 to 6 mm long; lemmas about 4 mm long, strongly 

 pubescent on the keel and marginal nerves, short-pubescent on the 

 internerves, sometimes sparsely webbed at base. Ql — Alpine 



