Poa fax explained

Poa fax is a species of grass in the family Poaceae, native to the Australian states of Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria.^[1] This species has the shortest scientific name of any plant. Poa is Greek for "fodder", and fax is Latin for "torch" or "flame", referring to "its dense, spike-like inflorescence which resembles a torch with ascending tongues of flame".^[2] While the name Poa fax is accepted as valid by Flora of Australia,^[3] and some databases reflect this, such as POWO,^[1] WCSP^[4] and FloraBase,^[5] other sources such as Tropicos,^[6] WFO^[7] and GrassBase^[8] consider it a synonym of Neuropoa fax.^[9]

Notes and References

1. 417016-1 . Poa fax J.H.Willis & Court . 13 September 2022.
2. Willis . J.H. . Court . A.B. . 1955 . Changes in the nomenclature of three Victorian monocotyledons . Muelleria . 1 . 1 . 45 . 10.5962/p.171606 . 250997448 . Biodiversity Heritage Library. free .
3. Book: Walsh . N.G. . Weiller . C.M. . Thompson . I.R. . Poa . Wilson . A. . 2009 . Flora of Australia . 44A. Poaceae 2 . 1–410 . Australian Government Publishing Service . Canberra . 978-0-643-09629-5.
4. Web site: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
5. Web site: Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.
6. Web site: Tropicos | Name - Neuropoa fax (Willis & Court) Clayton.
7. Web site: Poa fax J.H.Willis & Court.
8. Web site: RBG Kew: GrassBase - Neuropoa fax Description.
9. Clayton . W. D. . 1985 . Miscellaneous notes on Pooid grasses . Kew Bull. . 40 . 4 . 727–729 . 10.2307/4109854 . 4109854. 1985KewBu..40..727C .