Festuca parvigluma Steudel Syn.Pl. Glum. 1: 305, 1854.
XIAO YING YANG MAO.
Subg. Subulatae (Tzvelev) E. B. Alexeev, Parviglumae S. Aiken & X.Chen sect. nov.
Vegetative morphology. Plants softly erect. Plants loosely tufted, or turf forming. Plants clumped loosely. Plants with non-flowering shoots less common than flowering shoots. Plants with leaves along the stems. Plants with tillering leaves 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the culms. Plants with shoots extravaginal. Rhizomes present. Rhizomes long. Rhizomes 1 mm in diameter. Culms (30–)40–80 cm tall. Culms 1.2–1.5 mm wide. Culms geniculate, or strict, erect (usually). Culms internodes glabrous. Culms nodes 2–3. Uppermost culms nodes in mid 1/3 of the culm. Sheaths shorter than the internode. Sheaths glabrous, or with trichomes (basal sheaths). Sheaths pubescent. 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 0.2–0.5 mm long. Ligules membranous. Ligules margins ciliate, or ciliolate. Ligules apices erose. Leaf blades more or less lax. Leaf blades linear. Leaf blades flat. Leaf blades adaxial lateral longitudinal ridges indistinctly raised, or distinctly raised. Leaf blades 7–20(–36) cm long. Leaf blades 2.5–3.8(–5) mm wide. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces glabrous, or with trichomes. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces scabrous. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Flag leaves blades 7–18 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath, or nearly equal to the sheath. Veins 13–17. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands present. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed.
Floral morphology. Inflorescences narrowly lanceolate, or lanceolate. Inflorescences loosely open. Inflorescences (10–)15–20 cm long. Inflorescences branches 4–13 cm long. Inflorescences lowest internodes 4–7 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1 (usually), or 2. Inflorescences branches flexible. 8–15 fertile spikelets on the longest branches. Inflorescences branches angular in cross section. Inflorescences branches scabrous all over, or scabrous on the angles. Inflorescences branches vestiture moderate. Pedicels 1.5–6 mm long. Spikelets evenly distributed along the branches, or lower third of the branches without spikelets (usually). Spikelets 7–9 mm long. Spikelets 3.5–5 mm wide. Spikelets greenish. Florets 3–4(–5). Glumes glabrous. Glumes margins not ciliate. Glumes margins broadly membranous. Glumes apices acute, or obtuse. First glume ovate. First glume 1.1–1.8 mm long. First glume 0.7–1.2 mm wide. First glume 1 nerved. First glume 0.4–0.5 as long as second glume. Second glume ovate. Second glume 2.2–3(–4) mm long. Second glume 1.2–1.4 mm wide. Second glume 3 nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma. Second glume 0.3–0.4 as long as the spikelets. Rachilla internodes 0.9–1.1 mm long. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous (slightly). Rachilla internodes flattened. Rachilla internodes narrow. Rachilla internodes straight, or zigzag (slightly). Lemmas 4.8–5.5 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate. Lemmas subcoriaceous. Lemmas somewhat dorsally compressed. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas with distinct veins in dorsal view. Lemmas glabrous. Lemmas upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices entire (usually, maybe slightly notched). Lemmas apices accuminate. Lemmas apices awns 5–10(–12) mm long. Lemmas apices awns about as long as the lemmas, or much longer than the lemmas. Paleas 4.8–5.3 mm long. Paleas 0.7–0.8 mm apart. Paleas equal or subequal to the lemmas. Paleas keels glabrous. Paleas inter-keel regions glabrous. Anthers 0.7–1.1(–1.5) mm long. Ovary apices hairy. Ovary hairs dense. Fruits 2.8–3 mm long (immature).
Ecology. Flowering time May. On grasslands, slopes , under forests, along roadsides and riversides; (260-)1000–3700 m. Distribution. Northwestern China: Shaanxi. Southwestern China: Guizhou, Xizang. Central China: Hunan. Southern China: Taiwan. Eastern China: Zhejiang, Jiangxi.
Notes. Alexeev (1977) placed this taxon in subg. Subulatae. Lu (1992) put it in subg. Subulatae sect. Subulatae. Our data analyses put it in sect. Parviglumae.
Illustrations. • Herbarium specimen: PE: 845796. Herbarium label reads: collected in Jiangxi., along road. Note relatively narrow, flat leaves distrubuted the culms, and loose inflorescences with spikelets that have long awns, born towards the ends of the branches,. • Close up to spikelet. Spikelets from PE: 845796, about 8 mm long, greenish. Florets 4 fully developed Glumes glabrous, margins apices acute or obtuse. First glume ovate, tiny, 1.1–1.8 mm long, 0.7–1.2 mm wide, 1 nerved. Second glume ovate, 2.2–3(-4) mm long, 1.2–1.4 mm wide, 3 nerved, Lemma, with distinct veins in dorsal view, glabrous, upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices entire (usually), accuminate, awns 5–10(-12) mm long, awns about as long as the lemmas or much longer than the lemmas. • 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’.
