Poa pitardiana H. Scholz, Willdenowia

9.Poa pitardianaH. Scholz, Willdenowia 13 (1): 129, f. 1. 1983 a. Type. Canary Islands • Gran Canaria, Langunetas, faldas (praderas) abiertas, 1,200 m, 3 Mar 1966, G. Kunkel 8659 (holotype: B [B 100167933]). Diagnosis. Poa pitardiana differs from P. bulbosa by the glabrous callus, palea keels with ciliate hairs below the middle, glume tips smoothly transitioning to a very sharp point (vs. webbed, scabrous to near the base, blunt to acutely pointed, or minutely notched around the keel). Description. Culms 10–30 cm tall; basal tufts, leafy, bulbous based. Leaf blades 4–8 (– 12) cm long, to 1.5 mm wide, narrow. Panicles 1.5–6 cm long, loose; primary branches 1 or 2 at lower nodes, spreading (in anthesis), appearing smooth (in photos). Spikelets 2.5–5 mm long, not bulbiferous, with 3–6 florets; lemmas ca. 2.5 mm long, tips sharply pointed, keel and marginal veins pubescence like that in P. bulbosa in length and abundance; callus glabrous or rarely with one curly hair. Distribution and ecology. Canary Islands (endemic), known from Gran Canaria, Gomez, and Tenerife (Hansen and Sunding 1993). Open mountain-slope meadows of volcanic origin, 1,300 –1,950 m. Conservation status. Endemic, but Data Deficient regarding abundance, area covered, and threats; may be impacted by hybridization with Poa bulbosa. Comments. Differs from normal-flowered P. bulbosa mainly by the absence of callus hairs but also by having ciliate palea keels and sharply pointed lemmas. MA 731482 (Gran Canaria) lacks callus hairs, but the lemma apices and palea keels are more like those of P. bulbosa subsp. bulbosa var. bulbosa, perhaps representing variation or introgression.