| Poa fendleriana | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Pooideae |
| Genus: | Poa |
| Species: | P. fendleriana |
| Binomial name | |
| Poa fendleriana | |
Poa fendleriana is a species of grass known by the common name muttongrass. It is native to western North America, where its distribution extends from western Canada to northern Mexico. [1] [2]
This species is a perennial grass with small rhizomes. The stems grow up to 70 centimeters tall. [1] The dead sheath bases remain on the plant for a long time. [2] The narrow panicle has up to 8 erect branches crowded with spikelets. One inflorescence may have over 100 spikelets. The plant is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. Some populations lack male plants, while others are able to reproduce sexually. [1] Asexual reproduction is more common than sexual, and most populations are all female. These produce seed without fertilization by pollen. The sexually reproducing populations are usually found in warmer climates with summer precipitation, while the all-female populations can tolerate colder climates and a wider range of elevations. [2]
This is a common grass in western North America. It grows in many types of habitat, including sagebrush, oak woodlands, pinyon-juniper woodlands, desert grassland, and coniferous forest.
The grass often grows in dry areas, but it can occur in moist habitat, such as riversides. It can grow on many soil types. It occurs mainly on open sites or in partial shade; it does not tolerate the full shade of a closed canopy. It is a dominant plant species in several types of habitat. [2]
This grass is a "good to excellent forage for livestock" and wild animals, [2] feeding cattle, horses, sheep, elk, deer, and pronghorn. [3]
The fibrous root system helps to control erosion of the soil. [2] [3] It is tolerant of drought [3] and grazing. [2]
Distichlis spicata is a species of grass known by several common names, including seashore saltgrass, inland saltgrass, and desert saltgrass. This grass is native to the Americas, where it is widespread. It can be found on other continents as well, where it is naturalized. It is extremely salt tolerant.
Poa nemoralis, the wood bluegrass, is a perennial plant in the family Poaceae. The late-growing grass is fairly nutritious for livestock, which feed on it in the autumn, and it is used as a lawn grass for shady situations.
Festuca rubra is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue, creeping red fescue or the rush-leaf fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to well-drained soils in cool, temperate climates; it prefers shadier areas and is often planted for its shade tolerance. Wild animals browse it, but it has not been important for domestic forage due to low productivity and palatability. It is also an ornamental plant for gardens.
Pseudoroegneria spicata is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms Elymus spicatus and Agropyron spicatum. The grass can be found in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from Alaska and Yukon south as far as Sonora and Nuevo León.
Festuca idahoensis is a species of grass known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common. It can be found in many ecosystems, from shady forests to open plains grasslands.
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. It was intentionally planted on both the east and west coasts to control weeds and prevent erosion. Today it is a common grass across the continent and is a noxious weed in some areas. 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.
Poa cusickii is a species of grass known by the common name Cusick's bluegrass. It is native to western North America from Yukon to Colorado to eastern California, where it grows in many types of habitat, including high mountain meadows and slopes, sagebrush scrub, and forests.
Poa glauca is a species of grass known by the common names glaucous bluegrass, glaucous meadow-grass and white bluegrass. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is also known from Patagonia. It is a common grass, occurring in Arctic and alpine climates and other areas. It can be found throughout the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in many types of habitat, including disturbed and barren areas.
Poa diaboli is a rare species of grass known by the common name Diablo Canyon bluegrass. It is endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California, where it is known from about five occurrences in the San Luis Mountains near the coast. The type specimen was collected in Montaña de Oro State Park and the grass was described as a new species in 2003. The grass occurs on rugged mountaintops and north-facing slopes in thin soils covering shale rock within a few kilometers of the coastline. Its habitat includes chaparral, oak woodland, coastal sage scrub, and Bishop pine forest.
Thalictrum cooleyi is a rare species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Cooley's meadow-rue. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it is present in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. It is threatened by habitat destruction and degradation. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Calamovilfa longifolia is a species of grass known by the common names prairie sandreed and sand reedgrass. It is native to North America, where it occurs from the Northwest Territories to Ontario in Canada and as far south as New Mexico and Kansas in the United States. There are two varieties, var. longifolia being widespread in the species' range and var. magna being native to the Great Lakes region.
Calamagrostis montanensis is a species of grass known by the common names plains reedgrass and prairie reedgrass. It is native to North America, where it is found across Canada from British Columbia to Manitoba and south to Colorado in the United States.
Elymus lanceolatus is a species of grass known by the common names thickspike wheatgrass and streamside wheatgrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and abundant in much of Canada and the western and central United States. There are two subspecies, subsp. lanceolatus occurring throughout the species' range and subsp. psammophilus occurring in the Great Lakes region.
Festuca thurberi is a species of grass known by the common name Thurber's fescue. It is native to a section of the western United States encompassing New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. It probably also occurs in parts of Arizona.
Leucopoa kingii is a species of grass known by the common names spike fescue and King's fescue. It is native to the western United States from Oregon and California east to Nebraska and Kansas.
Nassella viridula is a species of grass known by the common name green needlegrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in western Canada and the western and central United States. It is introduced in parts of eastern North America.
Hilaria mutica, synonym Pleuraphis mutica, is a species of grass known by the common name tobosa, or tobosa grass. It is native to Northern Mexico, and the Southwestern United States, in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Poa arida is a species of grass known by the common names plains bluegrass and prairie speargrass. It is native to North America, where it occurs throughout western and central Canada and the central United States. It is most common east of the Continental Divide; specimens west are often misidentifications.
Salix alaxensis is a species of flowering plant in the willow family known by the common names Alaska willow and feltleaf willow. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs throughout Alaska and northwestern Canada.
Sisyrinchium sarmentosum is a species of flowering plant in the iris family known by the common names mountain blue-eyed grass and pale blue-eyed-grass. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it is known from a part of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon.
