''Poa trivialis'' (rough bluegrass; ''UK:'' rough-stalked meadow-grass or rough meadow-grass), is a perennial plant regarded in the US as an ornamental plant. It is part of the

grass family 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 and ...

Description

It is very common in meadows and

pastures Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or ...

throughout Britain. Its preferred habitat is moist, sheltered places. Its herbage is plentiful and fairly nutritious, though not as much as '' Poa annua'' or '' Poa pratensis''. It is useful for grazing on heavy and damp soil. It also copes well with the polluted

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

of towns and cities. It is in flower from June onwards throughout the summer. It is often considered a weed of golf courses. It is an invasive species in the Great Lakes region and was first sighted in 1843. It has short

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

s. The leaves are broad and tapering, and the sheathes are very rough. It has shiny leaves like '' Lolium perenne'' and crested dog's-tail. They have pointed

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 ...

s 4–10 mm (3/16 – 3/8 in.) long. Compare to annual meadow grass '' Poa annua'' which is silvery and pointed, and common meadow grass '' Poa pratensis'' which is short and blunt. The roughish, slender stem grows 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 ft.) high. Compare with smooth meadow grass '' Poa annua'' which has a smooth stem. The

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

is green and 15 cm (6 in.) long. The spikelets are egg-shaped. It has a loose, whorled green

, much branched, 15 cm (6 in.) long. It is also called Orcheston grass, after a village on

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

.Martin John Sutton, ''Permanent and Temporary Pastures'' (1929), p. 60

Wildlife value

The food plant of the caterpillars of small heath (

Coenonympha pamphilus The small heath (''Coenonympha pamphilus'') is a butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae, classified within the subfamily Satyrinae (commonly known as "the browns"). It is the smallest butterfly in this subfamily. The small heat ...

), meadow brown (''Maniola jurtina''), gatekeeper (''Pyronia tithonus'') butterflies; common sun beetle (''

Amara aenea ''Amara aenea'' is a ground beetle common in almost the whole of Europe and Northern Asia. Its range covers also parts of Northern Africa. It is known as the common sun beetle. ''A. aenea'' adults are predators that eat other insects, such as th ...

'') – adults feed on the developing seeds, ''

Eupelix cuspidata ''Eupelix cuspidata'' is a species of true bug belonging to the family Cicadellidae. It is native to Europe. References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10490701 Cicadellidae ...

'' of the

leafhopper A leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and a ...

family, and ''

Myrmus miriformis ''Strongylognathus'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Many of its species are endemic to specific regions. Species *'' Strongylognathus afer'' Emery, 1884 *'' Strongylognathus alboini'' Finzi, 1924 *'' Strongylognathus alpinus'' ...

'' a grassbug – feeds on young blades and developing seeds. It is parasitised by grass mildew '' Blumeria graminis'', which causes a white, powdery mildew on it.

Photos

File:Ruwbeemdgras Poa trivialis ligula.jpg, Pointed ligules 4–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in.) long File:Poa.trivialis.jpg, Loose, whorled green panicle, much branched, 15 cm (6 in.) long

References

* * The Observers Book of Grasses, Sedges and Rushes. Frances Rose. pp. 44–45
Natural England description on website
* Grasses,Ferns, Mosses and Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland. Phillips, Roger. 1980. p. 65.

External links

''Poa trivialis usda website''Kew gardens grass databaseGLANSIS Species FactSheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159118 trivialis Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Malta