Biorepository Data Portal

FNA 2007, Gould 1988

Common Name: Bigelow's bluegrass Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Tufted annual grass, stems 15-45 cm tall, delicate and erect. Vegetative: Sheaths open, slightly keeled at bottom, broad; blades flat, soft, light green, 2-4 mm wide, 4-12 cm long, the tips boat shaped, median lines present; ligule membranous, acute, lacerate, 1-3 mm long. Inflorescence: Contracted panicle, the branches strictly erect, 5-15 cm long; spikelets broadly ovate, pale green, 4.5-8 mm, with 3-8 florets overlapping and compressed against each other, spreading apart at maturity; glumes glabrous; first glume one to three nerved, second glume three-nerved; lemmas 3-4 mm long, margins white hairy and membranous, base with dense cottony tuft or web. Ecology: Found on rocky slopes and sandy desert washes from 1,000-5,000 (305-1524 m); flowers in the spring. Distribution: s CA, s NV, s UT, AZ, s CO, NM, s TX, OK; south to c MEX. Notes: Distinguished by being an annual bunchgrass with a contracted panicle, and spikelets with multiple florets, each floret pubescent at the base and having a conspicuously webbed lemma. Poa annua is another annual Poa, but that species is much smaller (5-20 cm tall), has open panicles with spreading branches, and usually has a prostrate (low and spreading) growth form. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Poa is Greek for name for grass or pasturage; bigelovii is named for Dr. John Milton Bigelow (1804-1878) a botanist on the Whipple expedition. Synonyms: Poa annua var. stricta Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015