Plants perennial; not or scarcely glaucous; densely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. Basal branching all or mainly intravaginal. Culms 5-15 (20) cm, slender, leafless above the basal tuft. Sheaths closed for 1/10 – 1/4 their length, terete; ligules 0.4-5.5 mm, milky white to hyaline, smooth or scabrous, apices truncate to acute; blades 0.8-1.5 (2) mm wide, involute, moderately thick, soft, apices narrowly prow-shaped. Panicles 1.5-5 cm, erect, lanceoloid to ovoid, contracted, congested; nodes with 1-3 branches; branches to 1.5 cm, erect, slender, terete, sulcate or angled, smooth or the angles sparsely scabrous; pedicels usually shorter than the spikelets. Spikelets 4-6.5 mm, laterally compressed, rarely bulbiferous, frequently strongly anthocyanic; florets 2-5, rarely bulb-forming; rachilla internodes usually shorter than 1 mm, smooth or scabrous. Glumes subequal to slightly longer than the adjacent lemmas, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels smooth; lower glumes (1) 3-veined, lateral-veins often faint and short; upper glumes exceeding or exceeded by the upper florets; calluses glabrous or webbed; lemmas 3-4.6 mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thin, keels and marginal veins usually short to long-villous, hairs extending along 3/4 - 5/6 of the keel, infrequently glabrous, intercostal regions glabrous or softly puberulent to short-villous, apices acute; palea keels scabrous, often short-villous to softly puberulent at midlength, sometimes glabrous; anthers 0.2-1.2 (1.8) mm. 2n = 42.

Distribution

Colo., Alaska, Idaho, Nev., Utah, Alta., B.C., Greenland, N.W.T., Nunavut, Yukon, Mont., Wyo., Calif., Oreg.

Discussion

Poa abbreviata is an alpine and circumarctic species which has two subspecies in the western Cordilleras, and one in the high arctic. It grows mainly on frost scars and mesic rocky slopes, usually on open ground. In rare cases where the lemmas and calluses of P. abbreviata ate glabrous, it can be confused with P. lettermanii (p. 580), but that species has shorter spikelets and glumes that are longer than the adjacent florets.

Selected References

None.

Key

1 Lemmas glabrous; calluses webbed Poa abbreviata subsp. marshii
1 Lemmas usually with hairs over the veins; calluses glabrous or webbed, rarely both the lemmas and calluses glabrous. > 2
2 Anthers 0.2-0.8 mm long; lemma intercostal regions hairy Poa abbreviata subsp. abbreviata
2 Anthers 0.6-1.2(1.8) mm long; lemma intercostal regions glabrous or hairy Poa abbreviata subsp. pattersonii

No values specified."decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Poa abbreviata"
membranous +  and scarious +
puberulent +, hispidulous +, hairy +  and glabrous +
1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br /> (?) +
0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br /> (0.12 cm1.2 mm <br />0.0012 m <br />) +
scarious-hyaline +
acute +, prow--shaped +  and truncate +
Robert J. Soreng +
R. Br. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
straight +
basal +  and terminal +
keeled +  and rounded +
strigose +  and glabrous +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
not evident +
involute +, folded +  and flat +
firm +  and soft +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (?) +
hispidulous +, glabrous +, smooth or +  and sparsely densely scabrous +
angled +  and terete +
slender +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
webbed +  and glabrous +
compressed +  and terete +
ascending +  and erect +
slender +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
not woody +
Colo. +, Alaska +, Idaho +, Nev. +, Utah +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Greenland +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Yukon +, Mont. +, Wyo. +, Calif. +  and Oreg. +
1/4 +  and 1/3 +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
sometimes longer +
2 +  and 5 +
compressed +
reduced +
1-3(5)-veined +
shorter or longer +
subtending +
keeled +, lanceolate +  and broadly lanceolate +
subequal +  and slightly longer +
distributed +
uncinate +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (?) +
0 +  and 1/6 +
Oval (?) +  and Round (?) +
milky white +  and slightly greenish +
softly puberulent +  and short-villous +
long-villous +
3/4 +  and 5/6 +
5(7-11)-veined +
keeled +, lanceolate +  and broadly lanceolate +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.46 cm4.6 mm <br />0.0046 m <br />) +
membranous +
erose +  and entire +
milky white +  and hyaline +
ciliolate +  and smooth +
lacerate +, truncate +  and acuminate +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lobed +  and lanceolate +
milky white +  and slightly greenish +
glabrous +, scabrous +  and smooth +
concealed +  and prominent +
0 +  and 5 +
2 +  and 1 +
well-developed +
2-keeled +
subequal +
lanceoloid +  and ovoid +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
hispidulous +  and glabrous +
many +, 1 +  and 100 +
compressed +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.65 cm6.5 mm <br />0.0065 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Gramineae +
Poa abbreviata +
Poa sect. Abbreviatae +
species +
membranous +
parallel +  and converging +
branching +, not rhizomatous +  and not stoloniferous +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +