(See other month's grasses)
Ha -
I bet you did not expect Poa nemoralis to be my next choice for a Poa!
but in winter/early spring it is an excellent choice:-
- Its new vegetative shoots are growing rapidly at the end of January - (Woodland plants often grow early before the leaves come on the trees)
- The vegetative blades have strong boat-shaped tips and tramlines (as "good" Poas should)
- whereas the blades that will grow on the flowering shoots from April onwards are very flat - almost as flat as Agrostis -and the tramlines and boat shaped tips take a lot of imagination) and the vegetative shoots may have shrivelled by then.
Above is a video of Poa nemoralis in Castleberg Wood (above the Coop in Settle) on Jan 28th - I think the church bell was ringing for a wedding
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| Jan 28. 2012 South west facing wall at edge of Castleberg Wood - See the boat shaped tips |
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| Same plant as above |
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| Beside the path inside the wood. Last years shoots still have the delicate flowerheads. Because it is a wood there was no grazing and the flower stems have persisted |
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| In winter, as in summer, the flower heads look a bit like Agrostis flower heads - delicate Christmas tree panicles |
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| This picture needs straightening. Above the Station water tower is the wood where the pictures above were taken. This water tower will be on Channel 4 on 16 February |
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Its still 28 January - but I have walked almost to the station.
Poa nemoralis grows well on walls -
maybe its woodland habitat is "chosen" to avoid predation
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| Taken at the same place near the station 18 April 2009. It is just coming into flower |
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| 18 April 2009 |
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| 28 January - Station wall. You can see how the base of the shoots curve. You can also see a node and the stem even here is round. (Poa pratensis would have rhizomes and some of the shoots may be more upright from the ground |
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| Same again |
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| This is a Poa pratensis - Its vegetative leaves are similar - boat shaped with parallel edges and slightly bluish green - but it has rhizomes - and as seen below has spread between the paving stones of St John's Methodist Church Hall pavement |
Poa nemoralis is rare / absent in Western Ireland and scattered in eastern Ireland. It occurs thorugh mainland Britain except the very north west of Scotland http://www.bsbimaps.org.uk/atlas/map_page.php?spid=1504.0
(See other month's grasses)
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