| Author | Nuttall | |
| Distribution | Mountains and Piedmont. Absent from the Sandhills and the Coastal Plain, except locally at sites with Piedmont-like soils (mainly along brownwater rivers).
NJ to IN, south to GA and AL. | |
| Abundance | Generally common in the Piedmont and most of the Mountains; rare on the Coastal Plain. This is clearly an S5 species in NC. | |
| Habitat | Mesic to moist, nutrient-rich, hardwoods and pine-hardwood slopes and ravines, descending to the upper margins of brownwater floodplains. |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting March-April; most fruits drop by May. One of the earliest grass species to flower in NC. | |
| Identification | These plants are perennial and 1-2 feet tall, growing from horizontal rhizomes (unlike most of out native bluegrasses, which lack rhizomes). Like some other NC Poa species, the inflorescences are composed of well-spaced whorls, but in this case only 2 (-3) branches per whorl. Spikelets occur near the ends of the branches and lemmas have a tuft or web of hairs at the base. This is a welcome companion on spring wildflower walks. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
The genus Poa contains some 500 species globally, about 70 in N.A. A typical Poa species has a number of basal leaves, few stem leaves, and a terminal, open inflorescence. The inflorescence is composed of well-spaced whorls of 2-6 skinny branches, usually with short side branchlets and these bearing spikelets. Branches may be strongly ascending, horizontal, or reflexed. Spikelets are composed of 2-6 florets and are generally laterally compressed. Each glume and lemma is acute to blunt, but seldom acuminate as in many Festuca species. Unlike Festuca and Bromus, most Poa species have a small wispy tuft of white hairs at the base of each floret. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S4 [S5] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
