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Old-pasture Bluegrass

Poa saltuensis

In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in northern hardwood forests, ultramafic outcrop woodlands, barrens, glades, forests, fields, thickets. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you

65
Strong

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 88%

Height
Up to about 3 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full shade
Soil moisture
Dry to moist
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
April to June

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 6 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 5

Northern hardwood forests

Frozen northern hardwood forest, Baxter Creek Trail
Northern hardwood forest in winter. Shown: Baxter Creek Trail near Mount Sterling, Haywood County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Frozen northern hardwood forest, Baxter Creek Trail, Brian Stansberry, undated. CC BY 3.0. Source record.

Forest edges and thickets

Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields
Named place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock

Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 108 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

39CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Poa

  • Acrolophus popeanellaClemen's Grass Tubeworm
  • Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
  • Amblyscirtes hegonPepper and Salt Skipper
  • Amblyscirtes vialisCommon Roadside-Skipper, Black Little Skipper
  • Ancyloxypha numitorLeast Skipper
  • Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
  • Apamea devastatorGlassy Borer, Glassy Cutworm Moth
  • Arugisa luteaCommon Arugisa
  • Atalopedes huronSachem
  • Cercyonis pegalaCommon Wood Nymph
Show all 39
  • Chrysoteuchia topiariusCranberry Girder, Subterranean Webworm, Topiary Grass-Veneer
  • Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
  • Fissicrambus mutabilisStriped Webworm, Striped Sodworm, Changeable Grass-Veneer
  • Hesperia leonardusLeonard's Skipper, Blazing Star Skipper, Pawnee Prairie Skipper, Pawnee Montane Skipper
  • Hylephila phyleusFiery Skipper
  • Lacinipolia meditataThe Thinker
  • Lerodea eufalaEufala Skipper, Gray Skipper, Rice Leafroller
  • Leucania phragmitidicolaNeedle Wainscot, Phragmites Wainscot
  • Leucania subpunctataWhite-Dotted Wainscot, Forage Armyworm
  • Limochores mysticLong Dash
  • Lon hobomokHobomok Skipper
  • Lon zabulonZabulon Skipper
  • Macrochilo litophoraAngulate Fan-Foot, Brown-Lined Owlet
  • Marimatha nigrofimbriaBlack-Bordered Lemon
  • Megisto cymelaLittle Wood Satyr
  • Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
  • Nephelodes miniansBronzed Cutworm
  • Nomophila nearcticaLucerne Moth, American Celery Webworm
  • Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Parapediasia teterrellusBluegrass Webworm
  • Pediasia trisectaSod Webworm Moth, Larger Sod Webworm
  • Phalaenostola larentioidesBlack-Banded Owlet, Black-Banded Phalaenostola
  • Phalaenostola metonalisPale Epidelta, Pale Phalaenostola
  • Polites corasPeck's Skipper, Yellow-Patch Skipper
  • Polites themistoclesTawny-Edged Skipper
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Elachista illectella
  • Gonioterma mistrella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
1BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Poa

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
9BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Poa

  • Anser caerulescensSnow Goose
  • Branta canadensisCanada Goose
  • Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
  • Lagopus leucuraWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
  • Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
  • Pooecetes gramineusVesper Sparrow
  • Spizella breweriBrewer's Sparrow
  • Spizella passerinaChipping Sparrow
  • Spizella pusillaField Sparrow
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Poaceae
Flower color
Not applicable

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Old Pasture Blue Grass; Old pasture Bluegrass; Poa languida

Conservation status

Virginia rankSNR
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources