"Bluegrass": The seed pods go from green to purplish blue to brown. During the purplish blue phase the seed stems have a navy-blue coating.Poa trivialis (rough meadow-grass), showing the ligule structure
Poa[2] is a genus of about 570 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass (mainly in Europe and Asia), bluegrass (mainly in North America), tussock (some New Zealand species), and speargrass. Poa (πόα) is Greek for 'fodder'. Poa are members of the subfamily Pooideae of the family Poaceae.[3][4][5][6][7]
Bluegrass, which has green leaves, derives its name from the seed heads, which are blue when the plant is allowed to grow to its natural height of two to three feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters).[8][9][10]
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.[11][12][13]
According to second-century physician Galen, the roots of certain species are good for treating fresh wounds and bleeding. In the sixteenth century, Poa grasses were used to treat inflammation of the kidney.[16]
Some of the Poa species are popular for gardens and for landscaping in New Zealand.
Insect foodplant
See also: List of Lepidoptera that feed on grasses
Lepidoptera whose caterpillars feed on Poa include:
^Soreng, R. J. & P. M. Peterson. 2012. Revision of Poa L. (Poaceae, Pooideae, Poeae, Poinae) in Mexico: new records, re-evaluation of P. ruprechtii, and two new species, P. palmeri and P. wendtii. PhytoKeys 15: 1–104
^"Poa L."Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
^Longhi-Wagner, H. M. 1987. Gramineae. Tribo Poeae, in Fl. Ilust. Rio Grande do Sul. Boletim do Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul 41: 1–191
^Zon, A. P. M. v. 1992. Graminées du Cameroun. Wageningen Agricultural University Papers 92–1(2): 1–557
^Cabi, E. & M. Doğan. 2012. Poaceae. 690–756. In A. Güner, S. Aslan, T. Ekim, M. Vural & M. T. Babaç (eds.) Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi. Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını, Istanbul
^Gibbs Russell, L. W., M. Koekermoer, L. Smook, N. P. Barker, H. M. Anderson & M. J. Dallwitz. 1990. Grasses of Southern Africa. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa 58: i–ix,.
^Negritto, M. A. & A. M. Antón. 2000. Revisión de las especies de Poa (Poaceae) del noroeste argentino. Kurtziana 28(1): 95–136
