The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #82624   Message #1514175
Posted By: GUEST,paddymac
02-Jul-05 - 09:58 AM
Thread Name: Folklore: Why is Bluegrass called Bluegrass
Subject: RE: Folklore: Why is Bluegrass called Bluegrass
bluegrass, Plants

Related Category: Plants
Found this on askjeeves. If memory serves, it is one of the "timothy" grasses and came here from England.
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bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. One of the best known and most important is the sod-forming Kentucky bluegrass, or June grass (P. pratensis), believed to have been introduced from the Old World and now widely naturalized in the United States; Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State because this species is so prevalent there. Others are rough bluegrass (P. trivialis), used for shady lawns; Sandberg bluegrass (P. secunda), the most common native species; and big bluegrass (P. ampla), an important range grass. Bluegrass is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Cyperales, family Gramineae.

The Columbia encyclopedia