Poa napensis

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Poa napensis
Poa napensis HC-1950.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Poa
Species:
P. napensis
Binomial name
Poa napensis

Poa napensis is a rare species of grass known by the common name Napa bluegrass. It is endemic to Napa County, California, where it is known from only two occurrences near Calistoga. It grows in moist, mineral-rich soil around hot springs. The rare grass only occurs on private, unprotected land and depends on water from the hot springs; changes to the local water regime or any other aspects of its specific habitat type would affect the plant. [1] This grass was federally listed as an endangered species in 1997, along with another rare local hot spring endemic, the Calistoga popcornflower (Plagiobothrys strictus). [1]

Poaceae family of plants

Poaceae or Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants known as grasses, commonly referred to collectively as grass. Poaceae includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and cultivated lawns and pasture. Grasses have stems that are hollow except at the nodes and narrow alternate leaves borne in two ranks. The lower part of each leaf encloses the stem, forming a leaf-sheath. With around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, Poaceae are the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae.

Endemism Ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Napa County, California County in California, United States

Napa County is a county north of San Pablo Bay in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 136,484. The county seat is the City of Napa. Napa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county's territory were given to Lake County in 1861.

This is a perennial grass forming dense clumps of somewhat waxy stems up to about a meter in maximum height. The inflorescence is an open array of thin branches bearing rough-haired, flattened, lance-shaped spikelets. The spikelets may be greenish to purple in color.

Inflorescence Term used in botany to describe a cluster of flowers

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. Inflorescence can also be defined as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.

Related Research Articles

Calistoga, California City in California, United States of America

Calistoga is a city in Napa County, in California's Wine Country. During the 2010 census, the population was 5,155.

The grass Tuctoria mucronata, which is known by several common names including prickly spiralgrass, Solano grass, and Crampton's tuctoria, is a federally listed endangered plant species endemic to two counties in northern California. It is a small annual, with stems growing decumbent against the ground to a maximum length of 12 cm, and turning upward at the tips. The leaves are 2–4 cm long, and secrete a sticky, aromatic juice. In the spring, the grass bears a small inflorescence 1.5–6 cm long, with numerous crowded spikelets.

<i>Lasthenia conjugens</i> species of plant

Lasthenia conjugens, commonly known as Contra Costa goldfields, is an endangered species of wildflower endemic to a limited range within the San Francisco Bay Area of the state of California, USA. Specifically this rare species occurs in Napa, Santa Barbara, Solano, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Monterey and Alameda Counties. This annual herb typically flowers from March through June, and its colonies grow in vernal pool habitats at elevations not exceeding 100 meters above sea level. The Jepson Manual notes that the present distribution is limited to the deltaic Sacramento Valley, principally Napa and Solano Counties, but the historic range of L. conjugens is known to be significantly wider. In any case, historically the range has included parts of the North Coast, Sacramento Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area as well as the South Coast. Alternatively and less frequently this taxon has been referred to as Baeria fremontii var. conjugens.

<i>Neostapfia</i> genus of plants

Neostapfia is a genus of endemic Californian bunchgrasses, in the Chloridoideae subfamily of the Poaceae (grass) family. The only known species is Neostapfia colusana, with the common name Colusa grass.

<i>Swallenia</i> genus of plants

Swallenia is a rare genus of plants in the grass family, found only in Death Valley National Park, California.

<i>Tuctoria greenei</i> species of plant

Tuctoria greenei is a species of grass endemic to California. Its common names include awnless spiralgrass and Greene's tuctoria. It is included by the California Native Plant Society on list 1B.1. It is also listed by the state of California as rare and by the Federal Government as endangered, having been federally listed on March 26, 1997.

<i>Alopecurus aequalis</i> species of plant

Alopecurus aequalis is a common species of grass known as shortawn foxtail or orange foxtail. It is native to much of the temperate Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America, where it can be found in many types of habitat.

Astragalus clarianus is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common names Clara Hunt's milkvetch and Napa milkvetch. It is endemic to northern California where it is known from only four or five occurrences along the border between Sonoma and Napa Counties. It is a federally listed endangered species.

<i>Orcuttia</i> genus of plants

Orcuttia is a genus of grass in the family Poaceae. Plants grow up to 20 cm (8 in) tall, usually with many stems emerging from the base of the plant, and forming a tuft. The spikelets are several-flowered, with reduced upper florets. The lemma tips have between two and five teeth.

<i>Orcuttia californica</i> species of plant

Orcuttia californica is a rare species of grass known by the common name California Orcutt grass.

Orcuttia inaequalis is a rare species of grass known by the common name San Joaquin Valley Orcutt grass.

<i>Orcuttia pilosa</i> species of plant

Orcuttia pilosa is a rare species of grass known by the common name hairy Orcutt grass.

<i>Orcuttia viscida</i> species of plant

Orcuttia viscida is a rare species of grass known by the common name Sacramento Orcutt grass.

Plagiobothrys strictus is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Calistoga popcornflower. It is endemic to Napa County, California, where it is known from only two small locations near Calistoga.

<i>Pleuropogon hooverianus</i> species of plant

Pleuropogon hooverianus is a rare species of grass known by the common name North Coast semaphoregrass. It is endemic to northern California, where it is known from Mendocino, Marin, and Sonoma Counties. It grows in moist marshy areas and shady redwood forests. It is an erect perennial grass growing to a maximum height between one and 1.6 meters. The inflorescence bears widely spaced narrowly cylindrical spikelets which hang sideways off the stem, resembling semaphore signals. Each spikelet may be up to 4.5 centimeters long and may contain up to 16 flowers.

<i>Poa atropurpurea</i> species of plant

Poa atropurpurea is a rare species of grass known by the common name San Bernardino bluegrass. It is endemic to southern California, where it is known from two regions, the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear and the Laguna Mountains of San Diego County.

Puccinellia howellii is a rare species of grass known by the common name Howell's alkaligrass. It is endemic to Shasta County, California, where it is known from a single population in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area near Whiskeytown and it is feared that the species may now be extinct as a result of the 2018 Carr Fire. Its entire population is contained in a 1-acre (4,000 m2) complex of three saline mineral springs directly next to Highway 299. The grass was first described to science in 1990 and no other populations were discovered despite extensive searches of the area.

Puccinellia parishii is an uncommon species of grass known by the common names bog alkaligrass and Parish's alkali grass. It is native to the western United States, where it is known from a few locations in Arizona and New Mexico, and one occurrence each in California and Colorado.

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.

<i>Zizania texana</i> species of plant

Zizania texana is a rare species of grass known by the common name Texas wild rice. It is endemic to Texas, where it is found only on the upper San Marcos River in Hays County. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 USFWS. Determination of endangered status for nine plants from the grasslands or mesic areas of the Central Coast of California. Federal Register October 22, 1997.
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