Poa bulbosa L. Sp. Pl. 1: 70. 1753. var. vivipara Koeler, Descr. Gram. 189. 1802.

Soreng, Robert J., Sylvester, Steven P., Sylvester, Mitsy D. P. V. & Clark, Vincent Ralph, 2020, New records and key to Poa (Pooideae, Poaceae) from the Flora of Southern Africa region and notes on taxa including a diclinous breeding system in Poa binata, PhytoKeys 165, pp. 27-50 : 27

Poa bulbosa L. Sp. Pl. 1: 70. 1753. var. vivipara Koeler, Descr. Gram. 189. 1802.

Poa bulbosa subsp. vivipara (Koeler) Arcang., Comp. Fl. Ital. 785. 1882.

Type.

[Germany. Mainz:] Prope Moguntiam in arenosis (specimen not found).

- P. sect. Arenariae (Hegetschw.) Stapf s.s., Fl. Brit. India 7(22): 338. 1897 [1896]. Type P. bulbosa L.

Distribution.

native to Eurasia and northwest Africa. Introduced/possibly arrived via long-distance-dispersal, but that seems unlikely for the bulbils are bulky and have no special dispersal mechanisms.

Ecology.

hemicryptophyte, geophyte, with bulbous based shoots that store hemi-cellulose. Well-adapted to temperate climates with winter rains and dry summers.

Flowering.

winter and spring green, flowering in mid-spring and quickly going dormant, flowers mostly forming bulbils. Apomictic.

Economics.

common, excellent early spring forage for sheep, but invasive and can become dominant.

Vouchers.

no new records.

Notes.

All the specimens reviewed at PRE were pseudoviviparous, at least in part. More or less normal-looking lemmas are commonly present in the lower one or two florets of bulbiferous spikelets. The very normal-looking lemmas will have soft hairs on the keel and marginal veins and a tuft of longer hairs on the dorsal side of the callus. The normal florets are thought to be fertile to some degree, although RJS has rarely observed seed in these. Some plants produce more normal florets and more normal spikelets than others, but the main mode of dispersal and establishment is by leafy bulbils that readily root and grow with the next seasons’ rains. Some taxonomists decline to recognise infraspecies here, but for purposes of natural history research, it is useful to identify plants with any bulbiferous spikelets as var. vivipara . Apomictic via bulbifery. 2 n = 21, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 42, 44, 46, 48, 49. - Aa genotype.