{{Short description|Species of plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Poa arctica - panicle view (Matt Lavin).jpg |image_caption = Panicle |image2 = Poa arctica (Manual of the grasses of the United States).jpg |image2_caption = Botanical illustratiom |genus = Poa |species = arctica |authority = R.Br. |synonyms = * ''Poa cenisia'' subsp. ''arctica'' {{smallcaps|(R.Br.) K.Richt.}} | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision_ref = {{Sfnp|POWO|2025}} | subdivision = * ''Poa arctica'' subsp. ''arctica'' * ''Poa arctica'' subsp. ''depauperata'' {{smallcaps|(Fr.) Nannf.}} }}
'''''Poa arctica''''', the '''Arctic bluegrass''' or '''Arctic meadow grass''', is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae, with a subarctic circumpolar distribution, extending into the Rockies.<ref name="416515-1" >{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:416515-1 |title=''Poa arctica'' R.Br. |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=5 July 2021 }}</ref><ref name = "GBIF2704207" >{{cite journal |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/2704207 |title=''Poa arctica'' R.Br. |author1=Registry-Migration.Gbif.Org |website=GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset |year=2021 |publisher=GBIF Secretariat |doi=10.15468/39omei |access-date=5 July 2021 }}</ref> Often a dominant species in the tundra, it responds positively to disturbance.<ref name = "1_of_1540_Google_Scholar_Hits" >{{cite journal |title=Warming experiments elucidate the drivers of observed directional changes in tundra vegetation |year=2015 |last1=Hollister |first1=Robert D. |last2=May |first2=Jeremy L. |last3=Kremers |first3=Kelseyann S. |last4=Tweedie |first4=Craig E. |last5=Oberbauer |first5=Steven F. |last6=Liebig |first6=Jennifer A. |last7=Botting |first7=Timothy F. |last8=Barrett |first8=Robert T. |last9=Gregory |first9=Jessica L. |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=5 |issue=9 |pages=1881–1895 |doi=10.1002/ece3.1499 |pmid=26140204 |pmc=4485969 |bibcode=2015EcoEv...5.1881H }}</ref>
== Description == ''Poa arctica'' is a perennial grass that spreads by rhizomes and often shows purplish coloration. Stems are 7–60 cm tall. Leaves are narrow, smooth, and hairless, with ligules 2–7 mm long. The flowering panicles are 3.5–15 cm long, open and sparse, bearing 10–40 spikelets. Spikelets are 4.5–8 mm long, laterally compressed, and contain 2–6 florets. Glumes are lanceolate, sometimes keeled, and usually smooth, with moderately pronounced veins.<ref name= "FloraNorthAmerica">{{cite book|editor = Barkworth, M.E.; Capels, K.M.; Long, S.; Anderton, L.K.; Piep, M.B.|title = Flora of North America North of Mexico, Vol. 24: Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, part 1|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2007|ISBN = 9780195310719}}</ref>
== Taxonomy == ''Poa arctica'' R.Br., described in 1823 from Melville Island, Canada. <ref name = "Brown1823">{{cite book| last = Brown|first = Robert |title = Chloris Melvilliana: a list of plants collected in Melville Island, latitude 74–75° N, longitude 110–112° W, in the year 1820; by the officers of the voyage of discovery under the orders of Captain Parry|publisher = W. Clowes|location = London|year = 1823 | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/33869 | access-date = 4 December 2025}}</ref> It is the basionym of ''Poa cenisia'' subsp. ''arctica'' (R.Br.) K.Richt., published in ''Plantae Europaeae'' 1: 83 (1890).<ref name="Richter1890">{{cite book|last1 = Richter|first1 = Karl|last2 = Gürke|first2 = M.|title = Plantae Europaeae. Enumeratio systematica et synonymica plantarum phaenerogamicarum in Europa sponte crescentium vel mere inquilinarum |volume = 1|page = 83|year = 1890|publisher=W.Engelmann|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10641500}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q10807654}}
arctica Category:Flora of Norway Category:Flora of Svalbard Category:Flora of Sweden Category:Flora of Finland Category:Flora of North European Russia Category:Flora of East European Russia Category:Flora of Siberia Category:Flora of the Russian Far East Category:Flora of Subarctic America Category:Flora of Western Canada Category:Flora of Eastern Canada Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States Category:Flora of Nevada Category:Flora of Utah Category:Flora of New Mexico Category:Plants described in 1823 Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status