Festuca of China

Xiang Chen, S. G. Aiken, and M. J. Dallwitz

Festuca forrestii Saint-Yves Rev. Bret. No 2: 16, 72. 1927.

ÓñÁúÑòé YU LONG YANG MAO.

Subg. Festuca L. sect. Aulaxyer.

Vegetative morphology. Plants yellowish green. 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, or over half the length of the culms. Plants with bases purplish. Plants with shoots intravaginal, or extravaginal. Culms (18–)30–60 cm tall. Culms 0.6–0.9 mm wide. Culms geniculate (slightly), or strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous. Culms internodes ridged or striped. Culms nodes 1. Uppermost culms nodes in lower 1/3 of the culm. Butt sheaths absent. Sheaths shorter than the internode. Sheaths glabrous. Sheaths open more than half their length. Sheaths not conspicuous at the base of the plant. Sheaths remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the veins. Auricles erect swellings. Ligules 0.1 mm long (very short). Leaf blades erect, stiffish. Leaf blades filiform. Leaf blades conduplicate. Leaf blades 6–20 cm long. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces glabrous, or with trichomes. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces scabrous. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Leaf blades margins scaberulous. Flag leaves blades 2–10 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath. Leaf blades 0.3–0.5 mm wide. Leaf blades 0.5–0.8 mm deep. Veins 5. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed. Abaxial sclerenchyma in narrow or discrete strands. Ribs 5 (sometimes only central rib well defined).

Floral morphology. Inflorescences narrowly lanceolate, or lanceolate. Inflorescences loosely open. Inflorescences 4–7 cm long. Inflorescences branches 1.5–4 cm long. Inflorescences lowest internodes 1–3 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1. Inflorescences branches flexible. Inflorescences branches appressed after anthesis. 2–3 fertile spikelets on the longest branches. Inflorescences branches angular in cross section. Inflorescences branches glabrous (or scaberulous). Pedicels 2–7 mm long. Spikelets evenly distributed along the branches, or lower half of the branches without spikelets, or lower 2/3 or 3/4 without spikelets. Spikelets 8–10 mm long. Spikelets 3.5–3.8 mm wide. Spikelets brown. Spikelets broadly lanceolate. Florets 3–5(–7). Glumes glabrous, or with trichomes. Glumes surfaces scabrous. Glumes vestiture on the veins. Glumes margins ciliolate, or not ciliate. Glumes margins narrowly membranous. Glumes apices accuminate, or acute. First glume narrowly lanceolate. First glume 2.5–3.5 mm long. First glume 0.2–0.4 mm wide. First glume 1 nerved. First glume 0.6–0.7 as long as second glume. Second glume narrowly lanceolate. Second glume 4–5 mm long. Second glume 0.6–0.9 mm wide. Second glume 3 nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma. Second glume 0.5–0.7 as long as the spikelets. Rachilla internodes 1.1–1.4 mm long. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous. Rachilla internodes flattened. Rachilla internodes curved, or zigzag. Lemmas 5–6 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate. Lemmas somewhat dorsally compressed, or rounded on the back. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas glabrous, or with trichomes (PE1276114). Lemmas punctiform, or scabrous. Lemmas trichomes on the upper portion. Lemmas margins smooth. Lemmas upper margins not membranous. Lemmas apices accuminate. Lemmas apices awns 2–6 mm long. Lemmas apices awns much shorter than the lemmas, or about as long as the lemmas. Paleas 4.5–5.5 mm long. Paleas 0.5–0.7 mm apart. Paleas equal or subequal to the lemmas. Paleas keels scabrous. Paleas inter-keel regions glabrous. Lodicules 0.7 mm long. Anthers 1.8–2.5(–3) mm long. Ovary apices glabrous, or hairy (sparsely). Ovary hairs sparse. Fruits 3 mm long (young).

Ecology. Flowering time Jul.-Sep. On alpine meadows, wetland; 2500–4400 m. Distribution. Northwestern China: Qinghai. Southwestern China: Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang.

Notes. Classified here because of the F. rubraleaf cross–section with distinct ribs and small sclerenchyma strands opposite the vascular bundles as illustrated by Saint -Yves (1928).

Illustrations. • Leaf anatomy 1. Leaf cross section of Festuca forrestii as illustrated in the original description (Candollea. iii.383, 1928), 0.75 mm in diam. • Leaf anatomy 2. leaf cross section of Festuca forrestii, based on one leaf from herbarium specimen: PE 1276114. Annotated by S.L.Lu, drawn by Xiang Chen at Canadian Museum of Nature. • Distribution map.