Grove Bluegrass
Poa alsodes
Found in rich cove forests, northern hardwood forests, seepage swamps. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 4 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to June
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 12 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Sheltered, moist mountain hollows and lower slopes with deep, fertile soil.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
Who uses this plant?
37CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · 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
- Atalopedes huronSachem
- Cercyonis pegalaCommon Wood Nymph
- Chrysoteuchia topiariusCranberry Girder, Subterranean Webworm, Topiary Grass-Veneer
Show all 37
- Ctenucha virginicaVirginia Ctenucha
- 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
- Leucania phragmitidicolaNeedle Wainscot, Phragmites Wainscot
- 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
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
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
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
- Bloom · “May to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Not applicable” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 4 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications