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Poa (From poa an ancient Greek name)

(from poa, an ancient Greek name for grass or fodder). Meadow Grass. ORD. Gramineae. A large genus (about eighty species) of hardy, sometimes dwarf annual, sometimes taller and perennial, grasses, broadly dispersed, but mostly found in North temperate regions. Inflorescence either in spreading or close panicles, the spikelets, for the most part, several-flowered and awnless; outer glumes unequal, and generally keeled; upper pales shorter and narrower, with inflexed, membranous margins. Few of the species are grown in gardens, being mostly of agricultural value. Eight are British plants. The following are probably as much worth growing as any. They are of very easy culture in ordinary garden soil. Propagated by seeds, or by divisions. P. fertilis (fertile). A synonym of P. palustrus.

P. palustris (marsh-loving). fl., inflorescence in airy, diffuse, purplish or violet-tinged panicles, rising to a height of from 2 1/2ft. to 3ft. l. long, soft, smooth, slender, arching, and forming dense tufts. Southern Europe, &c. A very desirable species, and one of the best for forming dense, isolated tufts, near the banks of streams. SYN. P. fertilis.

P. trivialis albo-vittata (common white-striped).* A very elegant, dwarf, perennial grass, forming dense tufts of erect leaves, which are flat, and broadly margined with pure white. Though a variety of a hardy species, it is most effective, and proves, in respect to its foliage, to be a very useful decorative plant, when grown in pots, under glass. h. 6in. 1868. (F. d. S. 1695.)