The Occurrence of Normal (Unproliferated) Florets in Poa Bulbosa in the United States 1

The writer has recently found plants of Poa bulbosa L. in California which have normal unproliferated florets, i. e., florets which instead of being transformed into bulbils--the only form thus far described from the Western Hemisphere--contain stamens, including anthers and filaments, and a pistil, including an ovary and two stigmas. The occurrence of the normM form of Poa bulbosa in America is thus of sufficient.interest to warrant being described. In the course of field and laboratory studies made in connection with the present report, and as a result of the perusal of the present literature on this species, new data have been acqnired concerning (~) the taxonomic characteristics of both the normal and proliferated forms; (3) the ecological conditions under which the two forms occur in the United States; and (3) the agricultural utilization of the proliferated form on the Pacific Coast. These data will be reported separately. In a brief note on the utility of Poa bulbosa for lawns in the South, Piper s states, "At Arlington Farm, Vs., the grass flowers in April and May, some of the panicles normal, but in many the spikelets are proliferous. At Middleton, Conn., most of the panicles are normal." This is the only report in the literature as to the occurrence of normal spikelets of Poa bulbosa in the United States and is not accompanied by any description of the material observed. In a previous issue of this JOURNAL, Kennedy4 presented a description and illustrations of normal Poa bulbosa. These, however,