Family |
Poaceae
Poa bulbosa
L.
Poa bulbosa L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 70 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 105, Pl. XXX, 1; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial grass with erect, hairless stems 10–50 cm tall, slightly ridged near the top, with dark brown nodes and swollen bases enclosed by thickened, somewhat fleshy sheaths. Short sterile shoots are similarly swollen and enclosed at the base.
Leaves: Lower sheaths broad and overlapping; upper sheaths elongated, closely appressed, smooth and hairless except along the keel. Ligule oblong, up to 5 mm long. Blades narrow and rolled, short on the stem leaves.
Inflorescence & flowers: Panicle contracted before and after flowering, with rough branches, the lower ones in groups of two or three and the upper ones solitary. Spikelets often produce vegetative plantlets. Ordinary spikelets are oval-oblong, green or violet, 4–6 mm long, with 4–11 flowers. The flowers are joined at their bases by cobweb-like hairs. Glumes nearly equal, about 4 mm long, sharply pointed, with rough keels; lemmas with five weak veins and variable hairiness.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: March–July.
Habitat & elevation: Various ground, especially cultivated or disturbed places. Relatively uncommon below 500 m, where plants without vegetative spikelets predominate; more frequent above 500 m and inland, where plantlet-bearing spikelets predominate. High-mountain plants are smaller and more strongly violet.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Beirut and surroundings, Tripoli, widespread in the lower and middle mountain zones and inland, Sannine, Mount Hermon, Makmel, Qornet es Saouda and the Anti-Lebanon.
Syrian distribution: Widespread in the Anti-Lebanon, Damascus region and interior; also near Tell Kalakh west of Homs, Deraa, Soueida and the Upper Jazira.
Recorded locations: Sannine.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Central European Russia, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Gulf States, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya, Xinjiang.
Introduced into: Alberta, Argentina South, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Chile South, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Korea, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand South, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Australia, South Dakota, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Victoria, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Western Australia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.