Western Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Poa palustris L.
- Family: Grass (Gramineae)
- Flowering: May-August
- Field Marks: The distinctive field marks of this bluegrass are the absence of rhizomes, the hairy lemmas, and the panicles more than 4 inches long. The stems are often purplish at the base.
- Habitat: Wet meadows, roadside ditches, other moist areas.
- Habit: Perennial herb with fibrous roots.
- Stems: Spreading, often rooting at the nodes, up to 3 feet tall, smooth, often purplish at the base.
- Leaves: Alternate, elongated, narrow, flat or folded, up to 8 inches long, boat-shaped at the tip, rough to the touch on the upper surface.
- Flowers: Borne in spikelets, with the spikelets arranged in an open panicle up to 1 foot long; spikelets 2- to 4-flowered, up to 1/4 inch long; lemmas hairy, bronze at the tip.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior, smooth.
- Grains: Obovoid, smooth.
- Notes: This species has been introduced from Europe and Asia, but is now widely found in the United States.
Previous Species -- Nevada Bluegrass (Poa nevadensis)
Return to Species List -- Group 2
Next Species -- Annual Rabbit-foot Grass (Polypogon monspeliensis)
