Festuca sibirica Hackel ex Boiss. 1884, Fl. Or. 5: 626, quoad nom.
XI BAI LI YA YANG MAO.
Poa albida Turcz. ex Trin. 1831, Mem. Acad. Sci. Petersb., ser. 6, 1: 387; Leucopoa sibirica Griseb. 1852, 1.c.:383, nom. illeg. Subg. Leucopoa (Griseb.) Tzvel., sect. Leucopoa.
Vegetative morphology. Plants dioecious. Plants densely tufted. Plants clumped loosely. Plants with non-flowering shoots more common than flowering shoots. Plants with leaves mostly basal. Plants with tillering leaves over half the length of the culms. Plants with shoots extravaginal. Culms 22–40 cm tall. Culms 0.8–1.8 mm wide. Culms strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous. Culms nodes 1(–2). Uppermost culms nodes in lower 1/3 of the culm, or in mid 1/3 of the culm. Butt sheaths present. Sheaths shorter than the internode. Sheaths glabrous. Sheaths open more than half their length. Sheaths conspicuous at the base of the plant, persisting for more than 1 year. Sheaths splitting between the veins, or remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the veins. Auricles erect swellings, or absent. Auricular cilia present, or absent. Auricular cilia short and scabrous-like. Ligules 0.4–0.7 mm long. Ligules margins ciliate. Ligules apices lacerate. Leaf blades erect, stiffish. Leaf blades filiform, or linear. Leaf blades flat, or involute. Leaf blades adaxial lateral longitudinal ridges distinctly raised. Leaf blades 8–30 cm long. Leaf blades 1.5–3 mm wide. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces glabrous (or scaberulous). Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Leaf blades margins smooth, or scaberulous. Flag leaves blades 4–7 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath. Veins (11–)15. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands present. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed. Abaxial sclerenchyma in narrow or discrete strands.
Floral morphology. Inflorescences narrowly lanceolate. Inflorescences spiciform. Inflorescences 5–7 cm long. Inflorescences branches 1–1.5 cm long. Inflorescences lowest internodes 1.2–1.4 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 2 (the shorter branches with only one spikelet). Inflorescences branches stiff. 2–3 fertile spikelets on the longest branches. Inflorescences branches angular in cross section. Inflorescences branches glabrous. Pedicels 2–3 mm long. Spikelets 6–8 mm long. Spikelets 2–3 mm wide. Spikelets greenish, or yellowish. Spikelets lanceolate, or broadly lanceolate. Florets 2–3. Glumes membranous. Glumes glabrous. Glumes margins not ciliate. Glumes margins broadly membranous. Glumes apices accuminate, or acute. First glume lanceolate, or broadly lanceolate. First glume 3.5–4.8 mm long. First glume 1(–2) nerved. First glume 0.7–0.9 as long as second glume. Second glume broadly lanceolate, or ovate. Second glume 4–5.3 mm long. Second glume 3(–4) nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma. Second glume 0.6–0.7 as long as the spikelets. Rachilla internodes 0.5–0.7 mm long. Rachilla internodes glabrous. Rachilla internodes cylindrical. Rachilla internodes narrow. Rachilla internodes straight. Lemmas 5.8–6.5 mm long. Lemmas broadly lanceolate. Lemmas herbaceous. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas with distinct veins in dorsal view. Lemmas glabrous (or scaberulous). Lemmas upper margins broadly membranous. Lemmas apices acute, or accuminate. Lemmas apices awns absent. Paleas 5–5.2 mm long. Paleas 1.4–1.6 mm apart. Paleas keels scabrous. Paleas inter-keel regions glabrous. Anthers 3–3.5 mm long (in male floret). Ovary apices hairy (in female floret). Ovary hairs dense. Cytology. 2n = 28.
Ecology. Flowering time June. Distribution. Northern China: Nei Mongol.
Notes. Classification following Tzvelev (1976).
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’.