Poa fax

Poa fax
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Pooideae
Genus:	Poa
Species:	P. fax
Binomial name
Poa fax J.H.Willis & Court
Synonyms[1]
Neuropoa fax (J.H.Willis & Court) Clayton Poa lepida F.Muell.

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 (πόα) 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]

References

1. "Poa fax J.H.Willis & Court". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
2. Willis, J.H.; Court, A.B. (1955). "Changes in the nomenclature of three Victorian monocotyledons". Muelleria. 1 (1): 45. doi:10.5962/p.171606. S2CID 250997448 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
3. Walsh, N.G.; Weiller, C.M.; Thompson, I.R. (2009). "Poa". In Wilson, A. (ed.). Flora of Australia. Vol. 44A. Poaceae 2. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. pp. 1–410. ISBN 978-0-643-09629-5.
4. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew".
5. "Florabase—the Western Australian Flora".
6. "Tropicos | Name - Neuropoa fax (Willis & Court) Clayton".
7. "Poa fax J.H.Willis & Court".
8. "RBG Kew: GrassBase - Neuropoa fax Description".
9. Clayton, W. D. (1985). "Miscellaneous notes on Pooid grasses". Kew Bull. 40 (4): 727–729. Bibcode:1985KewBu..40..727C. doi:10.2307/4109854. JSTOR 4109854.