POACEAE. 35 



Poa olneyae Piper. Glabrous tufted perennial, the stems 30-50 cm. high; 

 leaf blades numerous, flat or folded; ligule small, usually 1-1.5 mm. long; 

 panicle green or purple, narrow, more or less drooping; spikelets 4-6-flowered, 

 7-10 mm. long; lemma smooth, excepting the scabrous nerves. In open pine 

 woods about Spokane. 



Poa bolanderi Vasey. A glabrous, loosely tufted, short-lived perennial, 

 30-50 cm. high, erect; leaf blades few, thin, soft, rather short; panicle erect, 

 narrow, 10-12 cm. long, the branches few at the well separated nodes and 

 usually remaining erect; spikelets 1-3-flowered, 2-3 mm. long; lemma smooth, 

 the basal web scanty. In open woods in the Blue Mountains. 



Poa triflora Gilib. Fowl Meadow Grass. Tufted, the stems 60-90 cm. high; 

 leaves narrow linear, smooth and soft; ligule conspicuous; panicle usually 

 purple, 10-30 cm. long, the branches mostly in fives; spikelets 2-5-flowered; 

 lemma obscurely nerved. In wet meadows. 



Poa nemoralis L. Similar to P. triflora; stems tufted, slender, 30-70 cm. 

 high; blades 3-10 cm. long, 2 mm. wide, glabrous; panicle open in flower, 

 pyramidal, 4-10 cm. long; spikelets 2-5-flowered; lemmas 2-3 mm. long, the 

 marginal and middle nerves pubescent, the intermediate ones faint; webby 

 hairs at base scanty. Rare in our limits and perhaps only introduced. 



Poa brachyglossa Piper. Perennial, densely tufted, glabrous, pale green 

 or glaucescent; stems 60-100 cm. high; leaves very narrow, folded or involute, 

 rather stiff, almost leathery in texture, 5-20 cm. long; panicle narrow, erect; 

 spikelets 3-6-flowered, 7-10 mm. long; lemma oblong-ovate, rather obtuse, 

 smooth or nearly so, faintly nerved, the sides inrolled. In moist usually 

 alkaline soil; in such situations often abundant. 



Poa ampla Merrill. Tufted, pale and glaucous throughout; the stout 

 stems 60-90 cm. tall; basal leaves numerous, 3CM:0 cm. long, flat or involute, 

 smooth or nearly so; stem leaves 2; panicle erect, 10-25 cm. long, narrow, dense, 

 the appressed branches in half-whorls of 3-5, the shorter ones spikelet-bearing 

 to the base; spikelets 8-12 mm. long, 4-8-flowered; lemmas minutely scabrous, 

 4-5 mm. long. A common bunch grass. 



Poa sandbergii Vasey. Perennial, glabrous, not glaucous, tufted; the 

 stems 15-50 cm. tall; basal leaves numerous, the blades 5-10 cm. long, linear; 

 stem leaves 2, low down, the blades 1-2 cm. long, the sheaths often purple; 

 panicle 4-10 cm. long, narrow, the ascending branches in whorls of 2-5, 

 spikelet-bearing near the top; spikelets 2-4-flowered, usually purplish; lemmas 

 oblong, 3.5 mm. long, sparsely pubescent above, villous near the base. The 

 commonest native species, flowering early. 



Poa saxatilis Scribn. & Williams. Densely tufted alpine perennial, 20- 

 30 cm. tall; basal leaves numerous, green, the blades 2-6 cm. long, flat, slightly 

 scabrous, about 2 mm. broad; stem leaves 2; ligules well developed; sheaths 

 loose, becoming scarious; panicles green or purple, erect, rather loose, 4-7 cm. 

 long, the rays mostly in twos; spikelets lanceolate, 6-9 mm. long, loosely 3-5- 

 flowered; glumes subacute, smooth, subequal, about 4 mm. long; lemma ob- 

 scurely 5-nerved, oblong, subacute, scabrous on the back, puberulent at base 

 and on the keel, 4-4.5 mm. long. In rocky places, high ridges of the Blue 

 Mountains. 



Poa idahoensis Beal. Perennial, pale green, in dense tufts; stems 30-70 

 cm. high, scabrous above; leaves filiform, involute, scabrous, 15-30 cm. long; 

 ligule very short; panicle narrow, the rays in threes or fours, scabrous; spikelets 

 5-9 mm. long, loosely 4-7-flowered; lemma scabrous. Hatwai Creek, Idaho. 



Poa capillarifolia Scribn. & Williams. Very similar to P. idahoensis, but 

 bright green and quite smooth; ligules well developed; panicle closely-flowered, 

 the rays mostly in twos or threes; spikelets 5-9 mm. long, 2-5-flowered. Bluffs 

 of Snake River, rare. 



