Annual Meadow-grass - Poa annua

Description

5 to 30 cm tall tufted or creeping, sprawling habit. Panicles 1 to 8 cm long, pyramidal in shape with 1 to 4 spreading branches at each node, the lower branches later often bet down. Spikelets pale green sometimes, pink or purple flushed.  This low grass can grow from germination to seed production in six weeks!

Identification difficulty
ID guidance

The panicle is clearly branched, but only one or two branches at the lowest whorl. Spikelets contain two or more florets without awns. Lemmas easily seen extending beyond glume tips.

Habitat

Almost anywhere.

When to see it

All year round.

Life History

Annual.

UK Status

Abundant throughout Britain, and one of the world's most successful plants.

VC55 Status

Abundant in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 604 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Annual Meadow-grass
Species group:
Grasses, Rushes & Sedges
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
158
First record:
11/05/1992 (John Mousley;Steve Grover)
Last record:
07/02/2024 (Pugh, Dylan)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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