ABSTRACT. Poa, with about 575 species, is the largest genus of grasses, and has diversified throughout temperate, boreal, and arctic regions, and similar habitats through the tropics. This new phylogenetic study of Poa based on analysis of restriction site data from PCR amplified regions of chloroplast DNA expands previous sampling in the genus to where 1/5 to 1/6 of the species have been characterized for chloroplast DNA types. A broad phylogenetic structure detected in a previous study using restriction site mapping of Poa chloroplast DNA gained additional and robust support. Accounting for extended intra-and extrageneric sampling, Poa remains monophyletic if Austrofestuca and Parodiochloa are included as sections within P. Poa L. is the largest genus of grasses. Independent assessments by Clayton and Renvoize (1986) and RJS indicate there are about 500 or 575 species, respectively (Table 1). The genus has diversified throughout temperate, boreal, and arctic regions, and islands of similar habitats through the tropics, at all latitudes habitable by vascular plants. Poa exhibits both high species diversity and a high degree of endemism in many regions. For example, there are 34 endemic species in Malesia (Veldkamp 1994), 36 species in Australia (Sharp and Simon 2002), and 34 in New Zealand (Edgar 1986), with only two or three native species shared between Australia and New Zealand, and none shared between these areas and the rest of the world. Extensive polyploidy, hybridization, and few useful morphological characters combine to make Poa a taxonomically challenging genus.In contrast to other large grass genera (notably Festuca L. and Panicum L.), the monophyly of Poa has not been disproved, and no modern taxonomist nor data have seriously challenged its circumscription except by the removal of a few small, isolated groups of uncertain affinity. Modern revisions for several regions of the world have left Poa whole, or only removed one or a few species. In the opinion of RJS, there are few species that might be removed from the genus, but also a few small genera might be subsumed.