| Poa foliosa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Plate LV (artist Fitch) [1] | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Pooideae |
| Genus: | Poa |
| Species: | P. foliosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Poa foliosa | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Poa foliosa is a species of tussock grass commonly known as muttonbird poa. It is native to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and Australia.
Poa foliosa is a perennial, dioecious grass growing as densely clumped tussocks up to 2 m in height. The tussocks arise from short, woody stolons, with the shoots covered at the base by the fibrous remnants of sheaths. The leaf-blades are 150–400 mm long and 3–6 mm wide. The plant flowers from October to December, and fruits from November to April. [5] [6]
In New Zealand the grass is found on the north-eastern Tītī / Muttonbird Islands, as well as on the Solander, Snares, Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell Islands. It is also found on Australia's Macquarie Island. The habitat is coastal and subcoastal, often near seabird colonies. [5]
On Macquarie Island's coastal terraces and slopes it grows in mixed stands with Stilbocarpa polaris where the drainage is good, and along the borders of streams. It forms a tall tussock grassland along the beaches above the high-water mark, as well as patchily on the island's plateau in sheltered and relatively exposed sites. The upland grasslands are an important habitat for burrow-nesting petrels. [7]
The species was first described in 1845 as Festuca foliosa by Joseph Hooker. [3] [1] In 1864 he redescribed it as belonging to the genus Poa . [4]
In both 2009 and 2012 it was deemed to be "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, [5] and this New Zealand classification was reaffirmed in 2018 (due to its restricted range), with a further comment that it was safe overseas. [2]
Poa flabellata, commonly known as tussac grass or just tussac, is a tussock grass native to southern South America, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and other islands in the South Atlantic. There are also two isolated records from the herbarium at the French Muséum national d'histoire naturelle for the Île Amsterdam in the Indian Ocean.
Poa is a genus of about 570 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass, bluegrass, tussock, and speargrass. Poa is Greek for 'fodder'. Poa are members of the subfamily Pooideae of the family Poaceae.
Deschampsia is a genus of plants in the grass family, commonly known as hair grass or tussock grass. The genus is widespread across many countries.
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.
Tussock grassland is a form of open grassland that is dominated by tussock grasses. It is common in some temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregions of the Southern Hemisphere. Tussock grasslands are usually typified by low rainfall and poor soils in which few plants other than hardy tussock grasses can flourish. They are predominantly populated by tufted grasses of the genera Agrostis, Andropogon, Chionochloa, Deschampsia, Festuca, Koeleria, Pentameris and Poa. The grasslands are found in New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, temperate areas of southern and eastern Africa, and some subantarctic islands.
Tussock grasslands form expansive and distinctive landscapes in the South Island and, to a lesser extent, in the Central Plateau region of the North Island of New Zealand. Most of the plants referred to as tussocks are in the genera Chionochloa, Festuca, and Poa, also Carex.
Luzula crinita is a species of flowering plant in the rush family that is native to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and Australia. The specific epithet comes from the Latin crinitus, with reference to the leaves.
Polystichum vestitum, commonly known as the prickly shield fern or pūnui (Māori), is a hardy, evergreen or semi-evergreen ground fern.
Poa cookii, sometimes called Cook's tussock-grass or bluegrass, is a species of tussock grass native to various subantarctic islands. The specific epithet honours British explorer James Cook who visited the Kerguelen Islands in 1776.
Cardamine corymbosa, commonly known as the New Zealand bitter-cress, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. Native to the subantarctic islands of Australasia, it has become an invasive species in plant nurseries. The specific epithet refers to the structure of the inflorescence.
Chionochloa antarctica is a species of grass, endemic to the Auckland and Campbell Islands.
Anthoxanthum brunonis is a species of grass, native to the South Island of New Zealand and to the Auckland and Campbell Islands.
Poa litorosa is a species of tussock grass that is native to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and Australia. The specific epithet litorosa comes from the Latin litoralis.
The Flora Antarctica, or formally and correctly The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839–1843, under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, is a description of the many plants discovered on the Ross expedition, which visited islands off the coast of the Antarctic continent, with a summary of the expedition itself, written by the British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker and published in parts between 1844 and 1859 by Reeve Brothers in London. Hooker sailed on HMS Erebus as assistant surgeon.
The Botany of Lord Auckland's Group and Campbell's Island is a description of the plants discovered in those islands during the Ross expedition written by Joseph Dalton Hooker and published by Reeve Brothers in London between 1844 and 1845. Hooker sailed on HMS Erebus as assistant surgeon. It was the first in a series of four Floras in the Flora Antarctica, the others being the Botany of Fuegia, the Falklands, Kerguelen's Land, Etc. (1845–1847), the Flora Novae-Zelandiae (1851–1853), and the Flora Tasmaniae (1853–1859). They were "splendidly" illustrated by Walter Hood Fitch.
Abrotanella rosulata is a plant in the family Asteraceae, endemic to the Campbell Islands.
Carex erebus is a member of the sedge family and is found on the Antarctic Islands of Australia and New Zealand.
Agrostis subulata is a grass, which grows only on Campbell Island and on Antipodes Island in New Zealand.
Cardamine depressa, commonly known as bitter cress, is a plant in the Brassicaceae family, found in the Antipodean Islands.
Poa cita, commonly known as the silver tussock, or wī, which is also the Māori name, is a grass of the family Poaceae that is native to New Zealand. Poa cita was described and named by Elizabeth Edgar in 1986, having previously being named Poa caespitosa.
