- Smooth Meadow-grass
Taxobox
name = Kentucky Bluegrass
image_width = 240px
regnum =Plant ae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis =Liliopsida
ordo =Poales
familia =Poaceae
genus = "Poa"
species = "P. pratensis"
binomial = "Poa pratensis"
binomial_authority = L."Poa pratensis", known as Smooth Meadow-grass or Kentucky Bluegrass, is a species of grass native to
Europe ,Asia , northernAfrica andNorth America .The name Kentucky Bluegrass derives from its flower heads, which are blue when the plant is allowed to grow to its natural height of two to three feet. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2D7143CF930A35755C0A965958260 What Makes Kentucky's Bluegrass Blue - New York Times - June 3, 1993] ]
"Poa pratensis" is a
herbaceous perennial plant 30-70 cm tall (occasionally 90 cm). The leaves are narrow-linear, up to 20 cm long and 3-5 mm broad, smooth or slightly roughened, with a rounded to truncate ligule 1-2 mm long. The conicalpanicle is 10-20 cm long with 3-5 branches in the basal whorls; the ovalspikelet s are 3-6 mm long with 2-5floret s."Poa pratensis" is the type species of the grass family
Poaceae .There are two ill-defined subspecies:
*"Poa pratensis" subsp. "pratensis" - temperate regions
*"Poa pratensis" subsp. "colpodea" - ArcticCultivation and production
Since the 1950s/early-1960s 90% of Kentucky Bluegrass seed has been produced on specialist farms in
Idaho ,Oregon andWashington . [ [http://www.wkarc.org/Swrec/Research/CroppingSystems/index.asp Western Kansas Agricultural Resource Centers Bluegrass Production Report] ]Hybridization with "Poa arachnifera"
During the 1990s, botanists began experimenting with producing hybrids of "P. pratensis" and "
Poa arachnifera " (Texas bluegrass), with the goal of creating the ultimatedrought -resistant lawn grass.References
* [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Poa&SPECIES_XREF=pratensis&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: "Poa pratensis"]
* [http://poa.ipk-gatersleben.de European "Poa" Database]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.