Publication: Phytologia 51(6): 375. 1982.

Origin: Native

Herbarium search: CPNWH

Notes: FNA24: "Poa cusickii grows in rich meadows in sagebrush scrub to rocky alpine slopes, from the southwestern Yukon Territory to Manitoba and North Dakota, south to central California and eastern Colorado. It is gynodioecious or dioecious.

Poa cusickii subsp. epilis tends to grow around timberline. It is strictly pistillate. It is usually quite distinct from subspp. cusickii and pallida, and differs from subsp. purpurascens in having on average more and shorter spikelets, lemmas that are shorter and rarely pubescent, and both intra- and extravaginal branching. It occurs throughout most of the range of the species, but is absent from the Yukon Territory, and uncommon in the Cascade Mountains. It is fairly uniform even though widespread.

Last updated 12/15/2023 by David Giblin.