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Meadow-grass

Poa
Poa annua.jpg
Annual meadow-grass (Poa annua)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Poa
L.
Synonyms
  • Panicularia Heist. ex Fabr.
  • Poagris Raf.
  • Paneion Lunell
  • Anthochloa Nees & Meyen
  • Dasypoa Pilg.
  • Libyella Pamp.
  • Bellardiochloa Chiov.
  • Arctopoa (Griseb.) Prob.
  • Parodiochloa C.E.Hubb.
  • Tovarochloa T.D.Macfarl. & But
  • Tzvelevia E.B.Alexeev
  • Ochlopoa (Asch. & Graebn.) H.Scholz
  • Nicoraepoa Soreng & L.J.Gillespie

Poa is a genus of about 500 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" is Greek for fodder. Poa are members of the Pooideae subfamily of the Poaceae family.

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).

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.

Many of the species are important pasture plants, used extensively by grazing . Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is the most extensively used cool-season grass used in lawns, sports fields, and golf courses in the United States.Annual bluegrass (Poa annua) can sometimes be considered a weed.

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.

Some of the Poa species are popular for gardens and for landscaping in New Zealand.


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