Festuca arundinacea Schreber s.l. Spicil. Fl. Lips 57. 1771.
Î×´Ñòé WEI ZHUANG YANG MAO.
Subg. Schedonorus (Beauv.) Peterm, sect. Bovinae (Fries ex Anderss.) Hack.
Vegetative morphology. Plants stiffly erect. Plants loosely tufted, or turf forming. Plants clumped loosely. Plants with non-flowering shoots more common than flowering shoots. Plants with leaves mostly basal. Plants with tillering leaves 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the culms. Plants with shoots intravaginal. Rhizomes present. Rhizomes short. Rhizomes 1.4 mm in diameter. Culms 30–100 cm tall. Culms 3–5 mm wide. Culms geniculate, or strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous. Culms internodes ridged or striped. Culms nodes 1–2. Uppermost culms nodes in lower 1/3 of the culm, or in mid 1/3 of the culm. Butt sheaths present, or absent. Sheaths shorter than the internode. Sheaths glabrous (usually), or with trichomes. Sheaths glabrescent. Sheaths open more than half their length. Sheaths conspicuous at the base of the plant, persisting for more than 1 year, or not conspicuous at the base of the plant. Sheaths splitting between the veins, or remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the veins. Sheaths, of uppermost culm leaf not inflated. Collars glabrous. Auricles claw-like. Auricular cilia present. Auricular cilia long and pilose-like. Ligules 0.5–1 mm long. Ligules membranous. Ligules margins ciliolate. Ligules apices erose. Leaf blades erect, stiffish. Leaf blades linear. Leaf blades flat (may involute on drying). Leaf blades adaxial lateral longitudinal ridges distinctly raised. Leaf blades 4–35 cm long. Leaf blades 1.5–7 mm wide. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces glabrous. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Leaf blades margins scabrous. Flag leaves blades 1.5–10 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath. Veins 18. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands present. Abaxial sclerenchyma well developed. Abaxial sclerenchyma in narrow or discrete strands. Ribs 18.
Floral morphology. Inflorescences linear, or narrowly lanceolate. Inflorescences spiciform, or contracted. Inflorescences 5–25 cm long. Inflorescences branches 2–10 cm long. Inflorescences lowest internodes 1.5–7 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1–2. Inflorescences branches stiff. Inflorescences branches appressed after anthesis. 4–12 fertile spikelets on the longest branches. Inflorescences branches angular in cross section. Inflorescences branches scabrous on the angles. Inflorescences branches vestiture sparse, or moderate. Pedicels 2–7 mm long. Spikelets evenly distributed along the branches, or lower third of the branches without spikelets, or lower half of the branches without spikelets. Spikelets 8–13 mm long. Spikelets 2.5–7 mm wide. Spikelets greenish, or yellowish. Florets (2–)3–7. Glumes subcoriaceous. Glumes glabrous. Glumes margins not ciliate. Glumes margins broadly membranous, or narrowly membranous. Glumes apices accuminate, or acute. First glume narrowly lanceolate. First glume 3–6 mm long. First glume 1 nerved. First glume 0.7–0.9 as long as second glume. Second glume lanceolate. Second glume 4.5–7 mm long. Second glume 3 nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma. Second glume 0.4–0.6 as long as the spikelets. Rachilla internodes 1.2–1.5 mm long. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous. Rachilla internodes flattened. Lemmas 6–9 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate, or broadly lanceolate. Lemmas membranous. Lemmas somewhat dorsally compressed. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas nerveless in dorsal view or sometimes with only the centre vein distinct. Lemmas with trichomes. Lemmas punctiform, or scabrous. Lemmas trichomes on the upper portion (usually). Lemmas margins smooth. Lemmas upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices notched. Lemmas apices accuminate. Lemmas apices awns present. Lemmas apices awns 0.3–0.8(–5) mm long. Lemmas apices awns much shorter than the lemmas. Paleas 6.1–7 mm long. Paleas 1–1.2 mm apart. Paleas equal or subequal to the lemmas. Paleas keels scaberulous. Paleas inter-keel regions punctiform. Lodicules with marginal teeth. Lodicules 0.7–1 mm long. Anthers 2.7–3.7 mm long. Ovary apices glabrous. Fruits 3–3.5 mm long.
Ecology. Flowering time June- Sept. In valleys, under shrubs and along forests edge; 700–1200 m. Distribution. Northwestern China: Gansu, Xinjiang. Southern China: Taiwan.
Notes. Classification following Tzvelev (1976). Two subspecies have been distinguished:
Lemmas awnless or mucronate ca. 0.5 mm at apex; leaf sheaths usually scabrous at base...subsp.arundinacea
Lemmas awned at apex, awn 0.7–2.5(-5) mm; leaf sheaths usually smooth throughout...subsp.orientalis
It has been suggested, mainly on DNA evidence and intergenergic hybridiation between this species and species of Lolium, that this taxon might be placed in that genus, but this has not been widely taken up.
Illustrations. • Line drawing. Illustration from Scribner (1898) as F. elatior arundinacea. REED FESCUE. The notes accompanying the description state, "Introduced here and there, District of Columbia, Michigan, Utah, Oregon etc." In 1996, it has a very widespread distribution. • Rhizomes. Tillers separated from a tussock to show the well developed rhizomes that are present. Canada, Ontario, Ottawa, Bells Corners. Xiang Chen, 2002. HGAS. • Ciliate auricles of F. arundinacea. Ciliate auricles of F. arundinacea. Young leaves with well developed auricles are ciliate in F. arundinacea and glabrous in F. pratensis. The cilia and even the auricles are often lost or sparse in older leaves of herbarium specimens. • Contrasting auricle characters of F. arundinacea and F. pratensis. Contrasting auricle characters of F. arundinacea and F. pratensis. Left, F. pratensis, auricles glabrous. Right, F. arundinacea, auricles ciliate. • Contrasting inflorescences at anthesis. Contrast of inflorescences at anthesis. Left, inflorescence of F. pratensis showing the lowest node having a single spikelet and a short branch that may have 2–4 spikelets. Right, inflorescence of F. arundinacea showing the lowest node having two branches, each with several spikelets. • Contrasting inflorescences after anthesis. Contrast of inflorescences after anthesis. Left, an inflorescence of F. pratensis showing appressed branches at the lowest node. There is a single spikelet right of the main rachis and a longer branch with 3–4 spikelets to the left. Right, an inflorescence of F. arundinacea. The branches are not appressed after anthesis, and the way that a pair of branches is borne towards one side of the rachis is characteristic. • Contrasting inflorescences after mowing. Contrasting inflorescences. Left, early spring growth has two branches at the lowest node. Right, regrowth in the summer after mowing in the spring. Xiang Chen, 2002. HGAS. Scale bar is in cm. • Herbarium specimen: NAU. Herbarium specimen of F. arundinacea with vegetatively proliferating spikelets. • Distribution in China. This introduced grass may be more common as in other parts fof the world it is under collected.
Cite this publication as: ‘Xiang Chen, S.G. Aiken, and M.J. Dallwitz (2002 onwards). Festuca of China: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 4th February 2003. http://www.cdelta.ibcas.ac.cn’.
