Index / Search / Poa compressa

§1 Plant — species · Poaceae

Poa compressa L.

vernacular Canada bluegrass


USDA
POCO
GBIF
2704265
Rank
species
Canada bluegrass (Poa compressa)
Platephotograph · mobbiniCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Poa
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Introduced

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
12–45 in/yr
pH range
5–7
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
2,392,820
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 45 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/POCO ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2704265 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z