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Plant
- Utah State University, Intermountain Herbarium @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Poa annua - annual bluegrass, walkgrass

Synonyms: Aira pumila, Catabrosa pumila
Plant Form: Grass

Family: Poaceae


   
 
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Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
  Grass Description -   Glossary of Grass Terminology


Origin: Introduced    Season: Cool and Warm
Habitat Description: Thrives in lawns, gardens, cultivated crops, roadsides, open areas, moist waste places.
Plant Communities:Desert Scrub, Semidesert Grasslands, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 3000 - 5600 feet


General Description

Desc: Flattened stems are spreading or erect. The stems are short, from 2 to 12 inches long, and the plant is characterized by its dense, low clumps.
Identification Notes: Prostrate annual with bright green soft lax blades that have the typical Poa boat-shaped tips; spikelets 3 to 6 flowered; lemmas with a few long hairs, but not webbed at their base.
Grass Type: Annual  Rhizomes: N  Stolons: Y
Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N  Bushy (highly branched): Y
Height with Seedheads: Less than 12 inches
Seedhead Structure: Branched - contracted  Seedhead Droops: N
Flowering Period: Mar - Aug
Flower Characteristics

Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered  Spikelets One-sided: N
Awns: Absent   Three Awns: N  Awns Bent: N
Flower and Seedhead Notes: Seedheads are pyramidal with spreading branches. The flower head is triangular to egg shaped and it branches more than once, is often pale, and at times, bright green to purplish. 3 to 8 flowers per laterally compressed spikelet.
Vegetative Charcteristics

Blade Hairy: N    Blade with White Margins: N    Blade Cross section: Flat
Blade Notes: Leaves are bright green, wide, flat and soft with the tip curved and prow-like.
Sheath Hairy: N    Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar: N    Ligules: Membranous
Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area: N

Forage Value: It is one of the sweetest grasses for green fodder, but less useful than hay.


  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailGrass.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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