Meadow-grasses and Similar Species
Grasses - Poaceae
See also open-headed grasses.
Annual Meadow-grass Poa annuaNative throughout Eurasia and south into East Africa. Widely introduced elsewhere. Leaves hairless, pointed at the tip or slightly rounded and hooded, 1-5mm wide. Flower spike open and spreading at anthesis and remaining open at fruiting. Spikelets densely packed with 3-10 florets. Anthers prominent at anthesis, 0.6-0.8mm and 2-3x as long as wide. Plants in dry places can be very small and compact, but more open and spreading in shady or wetter places.
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Bulbous Meadow-grass Poa bulbosa
Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Central Asia. Plants in Greece tend to be of the viviparous form, where small plantlets develop in the 'flower spikes' rather than flowers and seeds.
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Beach Dropseed Sporobolus pungens
Native throughout the Mediterranean Region to the Levant and North-west Africa. A very common grass of coastal sands and upper edges of saltmarsh. Typically a low-growing species with extensive, creeping root systems, but can grow quite tall in mobile sand dune areas.
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