Festuca cumminsii agg. (Saint Yves) Krecz. & Bohr. J.D.Hooker. Fl. Brit. Ind. 7: 349. 1897.
Festuca duriuscula Hackel. Type: Sikkim Himalaya, alt. 11–12,000 ft. J.D.H. W. Bhotan, Bhootan, IX 1893. H.A. Cummins. Subg. Festuca L. sect. Festuca.
Vegetative morphology. Plants stiffly erect. Plants loosely tufted, or densely tufted. Plants clumped very tightly. Plants with non-flowering shoots more common than flowering shoots. Plants with leaves mostly basal, or along the stems. Plants with shoots intravaginal. Culms 30–45 cm tall. Culms slender. Culms strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous (mainly), or scabrous. Culms nodes 2–3 (uppermost towards the middle). Uppermost culms nodes in mid 1/3 of the culm. Butt sheaths present, or absent. Butt sheaths persistent and investing base of culms. Butt sheaths with compacted dead sheaths. Sheaths shorter than the internode. Sheaths glabrous. Sheaths closed more than half their length. Sheaths conspicuous at the base of the plant, persisting for more than 1 year. Sheaths remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the veins. Auricles erect swellings, or absent. Ligules 0.1–0.4 mm long. Ligules margins ciliate, or ciliolate. Ligules apices erose. Leaf blades erect, stiffish. Leaf blades filiform. Leaf blades conduplicate. Leaf blades (1.5–)5–10(–14) cm long. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Flag leaves blades 1–3.5 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath. Leaf blades 0.2–0.4 mm wide. Leaf blades 0.5–0.8 mm deep (?). Veins 5–7(–9). Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed. Abaxial sclerenchyma in narrow or discrete strands. Ribs 1 (central rib well defined, 2–3 poorly defined lateral ribs).
Floral morphology. Inflorescences narrowly lanceolate. Inflorescences spiciform, or contracted. Inflorescences 5–10 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1 (usually, dividing from near the base). Inflorescences branches flexible. Inflorescences branches appressed after anthesis. Inflorescences branches scabrous on the angles. Inflorescences branches vestiture moderate. Pedicels 1–4 mm long. Spikelets aggregated towards the ends of the branches. Spikelets 6–9 mm long. Spikelets greenish, or purplish. Spikelets lanceolate. Florets 2–4(–5). Glumes with trichomes. Glumes surfaces scaberulous. Glumes vestiture over most of the outer surface. Glumes apices accuminate. First glume narrowly lanceolate. First glume 2.5–3 mm long. First glume 1 nerved. Second glume lanceolate. Second glume 3–5 mm long. Second glume 3 nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma, or similar in length to first lemma. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous. Lemmas 5–6 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate, or broadly lanceolate. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas with trichomes. Lemmas scabrous. Lemmas trichomes on the upper portion. Lemmas margins smooth, or scaberulous. Lemmas upper margins narrowly membranous, or not membranous. Lemmas apices acute, or accuminate. Lemmas apices awns 1–2(–3) mm long (about half as long as the lemmas). Lemmas apices awns much shorter than the lemmas. Paleas (2.8–)3–4.5 mm long. Paleas keels scaberulous, or scabrous. Paleas inter-keel regions glabrous, or punctiform. Lodicules with marginal teeth (2-lobed). Anthers (0.8–)1–3 mm long. Ovary apices glabrous.
Ecology. Flowering time May-Sep. In grassy places of mountain sloples, alpine meadows, along forest edges, under shrubs; 2500–5300 m. Distribution. Northwestern China: Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang. Southwestern China: Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang. Northern China: Nei Mongol.
Notes. While F. cumminsi does not occur in China, at this time it is useful to follow Tzvelev's concept as we have not seen specimens of all the taxa in the aggregate.
Taxa in the aggregate that occur in or very near China are:
1. Anthers 1–1.6 mm long
2. Leaves with 5 vascular bundles... F. coelestis
2. Leaves almost always with 7(9) vascular bundles... F. tschatkalica
3. Lemma 4.5–6 mm long, broadly lanceolate; plants from Western Pamirica...F. pamirica
3. Lemma 3.2–4.3 mm long; lanceolate-ovate; plants from Jungarian Alatau ...F. goloskokovii
1. Anthers 1.7–3 mm long
4. Sclerenchyma usually in 3 bands, two marginal and one central, alpine plants; awns 0.3–1.5 mm long; panicle
rachis and branches scabrous
5. Spikelets brownish green
6. Lamina with 7 vascular bundles, smooth on the abaxial surface...F. borissii
6. Lamina with 5 vascular bundles, somewhat scabrous on the abaxial surface...F. kurtschumica
5. Spikelets often with a violet tinge, lamina with 5–7 vascular bundles, alpine plants of Central Asia... F. alaica.
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’.