Poa

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iPoa
Poa annua (Annual Meadow-grass)
Poa annua (Annual Meadow-grass)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Poa
L.
Species

About 500 species, including:
Poa abbreviata - Short Bluegrass
Poa alpigena - Northern Meadow-grass
Poa alpina - Alpine Meadow-grass
Poa alsodes - Grove Bluegrass
Poa angustifolia - Narrow-leaved Meadow-grass
Poa annua - Annual Meadow-grass
Poa arachnifera - Texas Bluegrass
Poa arctica - Arctic Meadow-grass
Poa badensis
Poa bulbosa - Bulbous Meadow-grass
Poa cita - Silver Tussock
Poa compressa - Flattened Meadow-grass
Poa chaixii - Broad-leaved Meadow-grass
Poa chathamica
Poa colensoi - Blue Tussock
Poa douglasii - Douglas Bluegrass
Poa dura
Poa flabellata
Poa flexuosa - Wavy Meadow-grass
Poa glauca - Glaocous Meadow-grass
Poa infirma - Early Meadow-grass
Poa iridifolia
Poa labillardieri
Poa nemoralis - Wood Meadow-grass
Poa palustris - Swamp Meadow-grass
Poa pratensis - Smooth Meadow-grass
Poa seconda - Sandberg's Bluegrass
Poa subcaerulea - Spreading Meadow-grass
Poa supina - Creeping Meadow-grass
Poa trivialis - Rough Meadow-grass

  • For uses of the initials, go to POA
  • For the city in the São Paulo state in Brazil, go to Poá


Poa is a genus of about 500 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass (mainly Europe and Asia), bluegrass (mainly North America), tussock (some New Zealand species), and speargrass.

One species, Smooth Meadow-grass Poa pratensis, is the type species of the family Poaceae.

Rough Meadow-grass Poa trivialis showing the ligule structure
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Rough Meadow-grass Poa trivialis showing the ligule structure

The genus Poa includes both annual and perennial species. Most are monoecious, but a few are dioecious (separate male and female plants). The leaves are narrow, folded or flat, sometimes bristled, and with the basal sheath flattened or sometimes thickened, with a blunt or hooded apex and membranaceous ligule.

Bluegrass adaptation in the U.S.
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Bluegrass adaptation in the U.S.

Poa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Chionodes psiloptera.

[edit] Cultivation and uses

Many of the species are important pasture plants, used extensively by grazing livestock. Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is the most extensively used cool-season grass used in lawns, sports fields, and golf courses in the United States. However, annual bluegrass (Poa annua) is considered a weed and is undesirable in turf. [1]

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