Bluegrass squat

Bluegrass squat, or lying - a perennial herbaceous vegetatively mobile plant with horizontal and ascending shoots creeping along the surface of the substrate. The sheaths of the leaves are open, bare. Leaf blades along folded, spaced from the shoot axis at an angle of less than 90 degrees. The tongue of the leaves of vegetative shoots is filmy, dull, up to 1 mm long. The panicle is ovate-pyramidal with smooth branches. Twigs on the lower nodes are usually solitary. Spikelets are somewhat compressed from the sides, 3-6 mm long, with 3-7 flowers. Lower floral scales without a bundle of long hairs on the callus, with 5 veins, of which intermediate veins are almost invisible. Upper keel scales with hairs and spines. Anthers from 1.2 to 1.7 mm long. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.

The plant blooms in May, repeated flowering during the summer is not observed. For comparison, the annual bluegrass (P. annua L.) blooms repeatedly during the growing season .

The bluegrass squat has a Eurasian type of range. Distributed in the taiga zone ^[2] . However, its dislocation (microchorology) inside this zone is little known. It is believed that in some areas there is a natural expansion of the range of P. supina due to its invasive qualities.

In the Moscow region, Myatlik squat was first collected in 1891 ^[3] . Currently, it is widespread here ^[4] . Squiregrass is common in the Kaluga region ^[5] , but is absent in the Tula ^[6] , Tambov ^[7] and Ryazan ^[8] regions. In Karelia and the Northwest regions of Russia it is rare ^{[9] [10]} . It is indicated for the Urals , Taimyr , the northern and eastern shores of Lake Baikal .

In the forest zone of the Russian Plain, bluegrass is found in sparse forests, at the edges, clearings, roadsides of roads and paths, on downed meadows. Prefers dry and very dry areas. In the cities of central Europe, P. supina is confined to secondary habitats ^[11] .

In nature, bluegrass squat often hybridizes with annual bluegrass (Poa annua). This hybrid is described as Ochlopoa x nanfeldtii V. Jirasek ex Val. N. Tichom. In Russia, it has not been studied, but is indicated for Belarus ^[12] . It is believed that the species Poa annua occurred as a result of the hybridization of P. supina and P. infirm Kunth.

Bluegrass squat is ideal for creating shade-tolerant lawns. It is used as a part of lawn mixes.

1. Kazakova M.V. Flora of the Ryazan region. Ryazan: Russian Word, 2008.

2. Kravchenko A.V. Abstract of the flora of Karelia. Petrozavodsk: Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2007.

3. Mayorov S.R., Bochkin V.D., Nasimovich Yu.A., Scherbakov A.V. Adventive flora of Moscow and the Moscow region. M .: Partnership of scientific publications of KMK, 2012.

4. Reshetnikova N.M., Mayorov S.R., Skvortsov A.K., Krylov A.V., Voronkina N.V., Popchenko M.I., Shmytov A.A. Kaluga flora: An annotated list of vascular plants in the Kaluga region. M .: Partnership of scientific publications of KMK, 2010.

5. Tikhomirov E.N. Genus Ochlopoa (Ascher. Et Graebn.) H. Scholz (Poaceae) in Belarus // News of higher plant taxonomy, vol. 44, St. Petersburg: Bot. inst. them. V.L. Komarova RAS, 2013.

6. Tsvelev N.N. The determinant of vascular plants of North-West Russia (Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod regions). SPb .: Publishing House of SPKhFA, 2000.

7. Sheremeteva I.S., Khorun L.V., Scherbakov A.V. Abstract of the vascular plant flora of the Tula region. Ed. V.S. Novikov. M .: Edition of the Botanical Garden of Moscow State University. Tula: Grif and C., 2008.

8. The determinant of vascular plants in the Tambov region. Edited by A.P. Sukhorukov. Tula: Grif and C., 2010.

9. Rothmaler W..Shubert R .. Vent W .. Bäbler M. Exkursionsflora für die Gebiete der DDR und der BRD. Kritischer Band. Volk und Wissen Volkseigener Verlag Berlin. 1976.