Festuca modesta Steudel Syn. Pl. Glum. 1:316. 1854.
ËØÑòé SU YANG MAO.
Subg. Drymathele Krecz.et Bobr.
Vegetative morphology. Plants stiffly erect. Plants solitary, or loosely tufted. Plants with non-flowering shoots less common than flowering shoots, or non-flowering shoots rare or absent. Plants with leaves along the stems (usually). Plants with tillering leaves 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the culms. Plants with shoots extravaginal. Rhizomes present. Rhizomes short. Culms 80–100 cm tall. Culms 3–4 mm wide. Culms strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous (or glabrescent). Culms nodes 2–3. Uppermost culms nodes in mid 1/3 of the culm. Sheaths shorter than the internode. Sheaths with trichomes. Sheaths pubescent, or scabrous, or punctiform. Sheaths open more than half their length. Sheaths not conspicuous at the base of the plant. Sheaths splitting between the veins, or remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the veins. Auricles absent. Ligules 1.5–3(–5) mm long. Ligules margins ciliolate. Ligules apices erose (usually), or lacerate. Leaf blades more or less lax. Leaf blades linear (broadly). Leaf blades flat. Leaf blades adaxial lateral longitudinal ridges distinctly raised. Leaf blades (10–)15–30(–60) cm long. Leaf blades 5–12(–15) mm wide. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces glabrous. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous, or with trichomes. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces scabrous (or scaberulous). Leaf blades margins scabrous. Flag leaves blades 6–15 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath. Veins 14–36. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands present. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed.
Floral morphology. Inflorescences lanceolate, or broadly lanceolate. Inflorescences loosely open. Inflorescences 18–22 cm long. Inflorescences branches 4–11 cm long. Inflorescences lowest internodes 6–8 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1–3 (usually 2). Inflorescences branches flexible. 16–20 fertile spikelets on the longest branches. Inflorescences branches angular in cross section, or flattened and ribbon-like. Inflorescences branches scabrous on the angles. Inflorescences branches vestiture moderate. Pedicels 1.5–3 mm long. Spikelets lower third of the branches without spikelets. Spikelets (7–)9–11 mm long. Spikelets 3.5–4.5 mm wide. Spikelets greenish. Spikelets broadly lanceolate, or lanceolate. Florets (1–)3–4. Glumes glabrous, or with trichomes. Glumes surfaces scabrous. Glumes vestiture over most of the outer surface. Glumes margins not ciliate. Glumes margins broadly membranous, or narrowly membranous. Glumes apices accuminate (first glume), or acute (second glume). First glume narrowly lanceolate. First glume 2.5–3(–4) mm long. First glume 1 nerved, or 2 nerved (rare). First glume 0.5–0.9 as long as second glume. Second glume broadly lanceolate. Second glume 3.5–4(–5) mm long. Second glume 3 nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma. Second glume 0.3–0.4 as long as the spikelets. Rachilla internodes 1.2–1.8 mm long. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous. Rachilla internodes flattened. Rachilla internodes narrow. Rachilla internodes straight, or curved (slightly). Lemmas 6.5–8.5 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate. Lemmas weakly keeled. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas with distinct veins in dorsal view. Lemmas with trichomes. Lemmas punctiform, or scabrous. Lemmas trichomes over the entire surface (not densely). Lemmas upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices accuminate. Lemmas apices awns absent. Lemmas apices awns 0 mm long. Lemmas apices awns much shorter than the lemmas. Paleas 6.1–7 mm long. Paleas 0.6–0.8 mm apart. Paleas keels scaberulous. Paleas inter-keel regions glabrous. Anthers 2.5–3.5 mm long. Ovary apices hairy. Ovary hairs moderate, or dense.
Ecology. Flowering time Apr.-Sep. Under forests, on grasslands of mountain slopes, or in valleys; 1000–3600 mm. Distribution. Northwestern China: Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai. Southwestern China: Sichuan, Yunnan.
Notes. Alexeev (1977) placed this taxon in subg. Drymanthele. Lu (1992) placed the taxon in this subgenus, section Muticae. This taxon tended to aligned with subg. Subulatae in our analyses, but has all the characteristics of subg. Drymanthele.
Illustrations. • Herbarium specimen: PE: 534951. Label information: collected in Sichuan, China, under forest. Note leaves distributed up the culm and more than 1 cm wide. • Close up to spikelets. Spikelet beside leaf blade, greenish, about 10 mm long, with 3 lanceolate, florets; rachilla internodes 1.2–1.8 mm long; lemmas 6.5–8.5 mm long, lanceolate, weakly keeled, veins 5, with distinct veins in dorsal view, upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices accuminate, awns absent. • Distribution map.
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’.
