''Poa'' 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'' () is Greek for "

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

". ''Poa'' are members of the subfamily Pooideae of the family

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

. 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 Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is conne ...

, but a few are

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

(separate male and female plants). The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

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 A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses (Poaceae) and sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla, such as that of a ...

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.

Annual bluegrass ''Poa annua'', or annual meadow grass (known in America more commonly as annual bluegrass or simply poa), is a widespread low-growing turfgrass in temperate climates. Notwithstanding the reference to annual plant in its name, perennial bio-types ...

(''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.

Insect foodplant

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

whose caterpillars feed on ''Poa'' include: *'' Agriphila inquinatella'' *'' Cercyonis pegala'' (common wood-nymph) *'' Poanes hobomok'' (Hobomok skipper) *'' Poanes zabulon'' (Zabulon skipper)

Selected species

References

{{Authority control Poaceae genera Lawn grasses Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus