Poa pusilla
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Detailed description
Slender, often delicate, open, perennial tufts, 5 – c. 35 cm, with few, very narrow, flaccid, bright green leaves, and slender, long-creeping rhizome; branching extravaginal; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath greenish purple becoming light brown, ± membranous, distinctly keeled, ribs strong, whitish, shaggy pubescent-scabrid, or minutely scabrid throughout or only near hyaline margins, occasionally with a few longer hairs on margins near ligule, rarely completely glabrous. Ligule 0.2–0.5 mm, truncate, ciliate, sometimes erose, abaxially with minute hairs. Leaf-blade (1)–5–15–(25) cm × c. 0.5 mm diameter, folded, rarely flat and wider, margins inrolled, abaxially distinctly ribbed, glabrous, adaxially with scattered short hairs especially on midrib, tip subacute to curved, scabrid on midrib. Culm 3–30–(50) cm, very slender, erect or drooping above, internodes glabrous. Panicle 1.5–8.5 cm; branches spreading, few, filiform, scabrid, bearing 1–4 spikelets at tips. Spikelets 3–7.5 mm, 2–5–(7)-flowered, yellow-green, faintly purplish. Glumes subequal, 2–4–(4.5) mm, 3-nerved, narrow elliptic- to ovate-lanceolate, acute or subacute, smooth, midnerve and sometimes lateral nerves sparsely scabrid. Lemma 2–4–(5) mm, 5-nerved, oblong- to ovate-elliptic, obtuse, midnerve with long silky crinkled hairs in lower ½, sometimes scabrid above hairs, lateral nerves usually with conspicuous silky hairs near base or in lower ½, internerves usually smooth, rarely finely scabrid, with hyaline band at slightly erose tip. Palea 2–3.5 mm, keels short ciliate-scabrid, interkeel short pubescent-scabrid, flanks smooth to scabrid. Callus with thick tuft of long, silky crinkled hairs. Rachilla (0.3)–0.6–0.8 mm, with scattered long hairs. Lodicules c. 0.5 mm. Anthers 1–2 mm. Caryopsis c. 1 × 0.5 mm. 2n= 28.
Distribution
North Island: throughout; South Island: throughout but rarely recorded from eastern plains and dry inland basins; Stewart Island; Three Kings Islands.
Habitat
Lowland to subalpine, in open forest, scrub, tussock grassland, in stony places or on sand dunes.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Poa pusilla Berggr. var. pusilla; Poa seticulmis Petrie; Poa pusilla var. seticulmis (Petrie) Cocknayne; Poa anceps var. å debilis Buchanan; Poa anceps var. æ minima Buchanan; Poa anceps var. gracilis Cheeseman
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Etymology
poa: Meadow grass
pusilla: Small
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
POAPUS
Chromosome number
2n = 28
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Edgar E, Connor HE. 2010. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses, 2nd edition. Manaaki Whenua Press, Christchurch, NZ. 650 p.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (28 December 2021). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features and copied from Edgar & Connor (2010).