Poa fax

{{Short description|Species of plant in the family Poaceae}}

{{Speciesbox

|image=

|genus=Poa

|species=fax

|authority=J.H.Willis & Court

|synonyms_ref=

|synonyms=

• Neuropoa fax {{small|(J.H.Willis & Court) Clayton}}
• Poa lepida {{small|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.{{cite POWO |id=417016-1 |title=Poa fax J.H.Willis & Court |access-date=13 September 2022}} This species has the shortest scientific name of any plant. Poa ({{wikt-lang|grc|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".{{cite journal |last1=Willis |first1=J.H. |last2=Court |first2=A.B. |date=1955 |title=Changes in the nomenclature of three Victorian monocotyledons |journal=Muelleria |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=45 |doi=10.5962/p.171606 |s2cid=250997448 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49707656 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library|doi-access=free }} While the name Poa fax is accepted as valid by Flora of Australia,{{cite book |last1=Walsh |first1=N.G. |last2=Weiller |first2=C.M. |last3=Thompson |first3=I.R. |chapter=Poa |editor-last=Wilson |editor-first=A. |date=2009 |title=Flora of Australia |volume=44A. Poaceae 2 |pages=1–410 |publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service |location=Canberra |isbn=978-0-643-09629-5}} and some databases reflect this, such as POWO, WCSP{{Cite web |url=https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=435879 |title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew}} and FloraBase,{{Cite web |url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/search/current/574 |title=Florabase—the Western Australian Flora}} other sources such as Tropicos,{{Cite web |url=http://legacy.tropicos.org/Name/25519740 |title=Tropicos | Name - Neuropoa fax (Willis & Court) Clayton}} WFO{{Cite web |url=http://worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000892280 |title=Poa fax J.H.Willis & Court}} and GrassBase{{Cite web |url=http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/imp06682.htm |title=RBG Kew: GrassBase - Neuropoa fax Description}} consider it a synonym of Neuropoa fax.{{cite journal |last=Clayton |first=W. D. |date=1985 |title=Miscellaneous notes on Pooid grasses |journal=Kew Bull. |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=727–729 |doi=10.2307/4109854 |jstor=4109854|bibcode=1985KewBu..40..727C }}