Festuca rubra L. subsp. arctica (Hack.) Govor. Fl. Urala 127. 1937.
MAO FU YANG MAO.
Festuca rubra L. subsp. eu-rubra var. arenaria (Osbeck) Fr. f. arctica Hackel, Monogr. Festuc. Europ. 140. 1882. Festuca kirelowii Steud. Syn. Pl Glum. 1:306.1854. Festuca rubra subsp. kirelowii (Steud.) Tzvelev, in Fl. Sev.-Vost. Evrop. Chasti SSSR, 1:180. 1974. Festuca richardsonii Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 250. 1840. Festuca. rubra L. subsp. richardsonii (Hooker) Hultén, Lunds Univ. Årsskr., n. f., avd. 2, 38, 1: 246. 1943. Festuca eriantha Honda (1928), Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 42: 145. 1928. Fetuca cryophila V.I.Krecz. & Bobrov in Kom., Fl. SSSR 2: 519. 1934. F. rubra L. var. arenaria auct., non (Osbeck) Fr. (1818). Type: Canada. Arctic sea-coast, 1825 (?), J. Richardson s.n. Syntype GH!. Subg. Festuca L. sect. Aulaxyer.
Vegetative morphology. Plants yellowish green, or bluish gray green. Plants softly erect. Plants loosely tufted, or turf forming. Plants clumped loosely, or moderately. Plants with non-flowering shoots more common than flowering shoots, or non-flowering shoots less common than flowering shoots. Plants with leaves mostly basal. Plants with tillering leaves over half the length of the culms. Plants with bases purplish, or not purplish. Plants with shoots extravaginal. Rhizomes present (slender). Rhizomes long. Culms (8–)15–40(–70) cm tall. Culms 1–2.1 mm wide. Culms strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous. Culms nodes 1–2 (when visible). Uppermost culms nodes in lower 1/3 of the culm, or in mid 1/3 of the culm. Butt sheaths absent. Sheaths longer than the internode, or shorter than the internode. Sheaths glabrous, or with trichomes. Sheaths glabrescent, or pubescent (trichomes prominent, retrorse, if present). Sheaths closed more than half their length. Sheaths not conspicuous at the base of the plant. Sheaths remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the veins. Sheaths, of uppermost culm leaf not inflated. Collars glabrous. Auricles absent. Ligules 0.1–0.4 mm long. Ligules margins ciliolate, or without cilia. Ligules apices erose. Leaf blades more or less lax. Leaf blades filiform, or linear. Leaf blades flat, or conduplicate. Leaf blades 3–25 cm long. Leaf blades 1.5–2.5 mm wide (if applicable). Leaf blades adaxial surfaces with trichomes. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces glabrescent, or scabrous. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Flag leaves blades (1.5–)2–7(–10) cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath, or distinctly longer than the sheath. Leaf blades (0.2–)0.5–0.7(–1.1) mm wide. Leaf blades 0.7–1.2(–2) mm deep. Veins 5–8. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed. Abaxial sclerenchyma in narrow or discrete strands. Ribs 5 (well defined).
Floral morphology. Inflorescences lanceolate, or broadly lanceolate. Inflorescences loosely open, or spiciform. Inflorescences (1.5–)3–5(–7) cm long. Inflorescences branches 0.4–1.3(–4) cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1–2. Inflorescences branches stiff, or flexible. Inflorescences branches appressed after anthesis. 1–4 fertile spikelets on the longest branches. Inflorescences branches angular in cross section. Inflorescences branches scabrous all over. Inflorescences branches vestiture sparse. Pedicels 1.5–3.5 mm long. Spikelets proliferating absent. Spikelets aggregated towards the ends of the branches, or lower half of the branches without spikelets, or lower quarter without spikelets. Spikelets (5–)7–9 mm long. Spikelets 1.5–3 mm wide. Spikelets greenish, or purplish, or brown. Spikelets broadly lanceolate, or lanceolate. Florets 2–7(–9). Glumes similar. Glumes with trichomes (scabrous or with long, whitish trichomes). Glumes surfaces pubescent. Glumes vestiture over most of the outer surface. Glumes margins ciliate. Glumes margins narrowly membranous. Glumes apices accuminate (first glume), or acute (second glume). First glume narrowly lanceolate, or lanceolate. First glume 1.5–3 mm long. First glume 0.6–0.8 mm wide. First glume 1 nerved. Second glume lanceolate. Second glume 3–4.8 mm long. Second glume 3 nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous. Rachilla internodes cylindrical. Rachilla internodes narrow. Rachilla internodes straight. Lemmas 5–6.5 mm long. Lemmas broadly lanceolate. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas nerveless in dorsal view or sometimes with only the centre vein distinct. Lemmas with trichomes (similar in distribution to trichomes on the glumes). Lemmas pubescent. Lemmas trichomes over the entire surface. Lemmas upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices acute, or accuminate. Lemmas apices awns present. Lemmas apices awns 0.2–1.6 mm long. Lemmas apices awns much shorter than the lemmas. Paleas 4.5–6 mm long. Paleas equal or subequal to the lemmas. Paleas keels scaberulous, or scabrous. Paleas inter-keel regions pubescent. Lodicules with marginal teeth. Lodicules glabrous, or ciliate. Lodicules 0.9–1.1 mm long. Anthers 2.7–3.7 mm long. Ovary apices glabrous. Fruits 2–2.5 mm long. Cytology. 2n = 42.
Ecology. Flowering time Jun.-Aug. Among shrubs, in grassy places of mountain slopes , in valleys or flood land; 2100–4300 m. Distribution. Northwestern China: Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang. Southwestern China: Sichuan, Xizang. Northern China: Hebei, Shanxi, Nei Mongol.
Notes. Included here is Festuca kirelowii Steud. following Tzvelev (1976).
Close to, or within, F. rubra subsp. arctica complex as it widely understood are the following.
Spikelets 8–9(-10) florets; leaf sheaths smooth.... F. rubra subsp. pluriflora
Spikelets 4–6 florets; leaf sheath puberulent...F. rubra subsp. villosa .
Illustrations. • Field grown plants. Plants of F. rubra subsp. arctica in an experimental plot at the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. The upper plant is F. rubra and the lower plant is F. rubra subsp. richardonsii, transplanted to Ottawa, from the Yukon. • Leaf anatomy. Leaf cross section of F. rubra subsp. richardonsii. Leaf blades are 0.5–0.71–1.1 mm wide and 0.7–1.12–2 mm deep, with 5–8 veins; adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands are absent. Abaxial sclerenchyma are well developed, in discrete, relatively narrow strands opposite the veins. There are 5 well defined ribs. • Syntype specimen: GH. Syntype specimen of F. rubra subsp. richardonsii collected from the Arctic sea-coast, 1825 (?) J. Richardson s.n. GH. • Syntype specimen: NY. Syntype specimen of F. rubra subsp. richardonsii collected from the Arctic sea-coast, J. Richardson s.n., 1825 (?). • Distribution map for North America..
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’.
