灰早熟禾 hui zao shu he

Culms erect, glaucous, sometimes strongly purplish, (5–) 10–15(–35) cm tall, nodes 1 or 2, uppermost to 1/5 way up culm, covered by sheath; uppermost internode up to 1.5–2 mm wide. Shoots always extravaginal, even when densely tufted. Leaf sheath longer than blade, flat or folded, sometimes quite soft, withering, 1–2 mm wide, margins and both sides of veins scabrid; ligule 1–1.5(–2) mm. Panicle contracted, later quite open, 4–7 cm; branches 1 or 2 per node, 2–3 cm, with a few scattered spikelets. Spikelets oblong-ovate, (3.8–)4–5(–7) mm, tinged with purple, florets 2–4; glumes narrowly lanceolate, unequal, as long as lower lemma; lemma narrowly lanceolate, lower lemma ca. 4 mm, keel shortly villous for 1/2 of length, marginal veins for 1/3; callus sparsely webbed or glabrous. Fl. Jun–Aug.

Dry gravel slopes, grassy places on river beaches; 2000–5200 m. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia (Iran), Europe, North America].

Poa glauca is probably one of the most polymorphic species in the genus. In C Asia it has probably been almost consumed by introgressive hybridization. Most gatherings seem to belong to the hybrid complexes P. albertii and P. araratica s.l. Pure populations of P. glauca are rather rare in China.