Poa bulbosa

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Poa bulbosa
Poabulbosa.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Poa
Species:
P. bulbosa
Binomial name
Poa bulbosa
L.

Poa bulbosa is a species of grass known by the common names bulbous bluegrass or bulbous meadow-grass. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is present practically worldwide as an introduced species. It is widespread in the United States and southern Canada. It was introduced to the eastern United States around 1906 and the western US in 1915 as a contaminant in shipments of alfalfa seed. [1] It was intentionally planted on both the east and west coasts [2] to control weeds and prevent erosion. [1] Today it is a common grass across the continent and is a noxious weed in some areas. [3] It is a sturdy, hardy, persistent, aggressive grass that easily outcompetes many other plants and becomes the dominant species in disturbed habitat types, such as overgrazed fields. [1]

This is an annual or perennial [2] grass forming dense clumps up to about 60 centimeters tall. The stems are smooth and hollow and usually have bulbous sections at their bases about a centimeter in length. The grass is more likely to have bulbous sections if it is growing in a drier area, and study has indicated the bulbous sections are mostly water. [2] If the bulbous bases are detached and replanted they can give rise to new plants. [1] The inflorescence is a wide cluster of branches bearing green leaflike spikelets with darker bases that contain bulbils. Viable seed is rarely produced, and the plant usually reproduces asexually via its basal bulbous sections and via bulbils. [2] Although the plant reproduces vegetatively (asexually) most of the time, it has been shown to possess high genetic variability. [1] [ dubious ]

Many types of animals, including wild and domesticated ruminants, small mammals, and birds, readily consume this grass, especially the bulbils in the inflorescences, which contain some starches and fats. [2] The grass is used as a fodder and a pasture grass in parts of its native region. [4]

Related Research Articles

Plant reproduction is the production of new offspring in plants, which can be accomplished by sexual or asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction produces offspring by the fusion of gametes, resulting in offspring genetically different from either parent. Asexual reproduction produces new individuals without the fusion of gametes, resulting in clonal plants that are genetically identical to the parent plant and each other, unless mutations occur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulbil</span> Small young plant that grows from the parent plants stem

A bulbil is a small, young plant that is reproduced vegetatively from axillary buds on the parent plant's stem or in place of a flower on an inflorescence. These young plants are clones of the parent plant that produced them—they have identical genetic material. The formation of bulbils is a form of asexual reproduction, as they can eventually go on to form new stand-alone plants.

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