Festuca stapfii E. Alexeev Byull. Mosk. Obshch. Ispyt. Prir. Biol. 83(4): 115. 1978.
ϸâÑòé XI MANG YANG MAO.
Festuca undata var. aristata Stapf. Type: Typus: Herb.Ind.Or.Hook.f.et Thomson, Sikkim. Lachen, regio' temp. 1100ft.,3 VII 1849 (K). Subg. Festuca L. sect. Aulaxyer.
Vegetative morphology. Plants loosely tufted. Plants with non-flowering shoots more common than flowering shoots, or non-flowering shoots less common than flowering shoots (usually). Plants with leaves mostly basal, or along the stems (usually). Plants with tillering leaves 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the culms. Plants with shoots extravaginal. Rhizomes absent. Culms 20–70 cm tall. Culms 0.6–1 mm wide. Culms geniculate, or strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous. Culms nodes 2. Uppermost culms nodes in lower 1/3 of the culm. 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 0.3–0.5 mm long. Ligules membranous. Ligules margins ciliate, or ciliolate. Leaf blades erect, stiffish. Leaf blades filiform. Leaf blades conduplicate. Leaf blades 3–10 cm long. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces with trichomes. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces pubescent, or scabrous. Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Flag leaves blades 5–10 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath, or nearly equal to the sheath. Leaf blades 0.8–1 mm wide. Leaf blades 0.7–0.9 mm deep. Veins 7–9. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed. Abaxial sclerenchyma in narrow or discrete strands. Ribs 5–8 (almost all of the ribs well defined).
Floral morphology. Inflorescences broadly lanceolate. Inflorescences loosely open. Inflorescences 6–10 cm long. Inflorescences branches 3–6 cm long. Inflorescences lowest internodes 2–2.5 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1, or 2 (rarely). Inflorescences branches scabrous on the angles. Inflorescences branches vestiture sparse, or moderate. Pedicels 2.5–5 mm long. Spikelets lower 2/3 or 3/4 without spikelets. Spikelets 6–8.5(–9.5) mm long. Spikelets greenish, or purplish. Spikelets lanceolate. Florets 3–4(–7). Glumes herbaceous. Glumes glabrous. Glumes margins narrowly membranous. Glumes apices accuminate. First glume lanceolate, or narrowly lanceolate. First glume 2–2.5(–3.8) mm long. First glume 1 nerved. Second glume narrowly lanceolate, or lanceolate. Second glume 3–4.5(–6.5) mm long. Second glume 3 nerved. Rachilla internodes 1–1.5 mm long. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous. Rachilla internodes flattened. Lemmas 5–6.5 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate. Lemmas subcoriaceous. Lemmas somewhat dorsally compressed. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas glabrous. Lemmas upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices accuminate. Lemmas apices awns (3–)5–8 mm long. Lemmas apices awns about as long as the lemmas. Paleas 5.5–6 mm long. Paleas equal or subequal to the lemmas. Paleas keels scaberulous. Paleas inter-keel regions glabrous. Anthers 1.2–1.8 mm long. Ovary apices glabrous, or hairy. Ovary hairs sparse, or moderate.
Ecology. Flowering time Jul.-Sep. Grassy mountainsides, chalky meadows, forest margins; 3000–3200 m. Distribution. Southwestern China: Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang.
Notes. Alexeev (1978) placed this taxon in section Festuca and provided a rubra-like leaf cross section.
Illustrations. • Herbarium specimen. Herbarium specimen from KEW: H2000/02132 11, annotated by E. Alexeev in Nov. 1976. Orignal printed label reads, Plants of Yunnan, China. Festuca ruba L. (Hand writing). Eastern slopes of Likiang Snow Range, Yangtze watershed. No. 10692. J.F. Rock. Collector. 1923–24. Alexeev annotation Festuca stapfill (=F. undata var. aristata Stapt). XII 1976. Determ. E. Alexeev. • Leaf anatomy 1. Leaf anatomy from original description :Byull. Mosk. Obshch. Ispyt. Prir. Biol. 83(4): 115. 1978. Leaf blades erect, stiffish, filiform, conduplicate, 0.8–1 mm wide, 0.7–0.9 mm deep; veins 7–9; adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent; abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed, in discrete, relatively narrow strands opposite the veins; ribs 6–8 (almost all of the ribs well defined). • Leaf anatomy 2. Leaf blade 0.8–1 mm wide, 0.7–0.9 mm deep; veins 8. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed, in discrete, relatively narrow strands opposite the veins; ribs 8. Section from herbarium specimen from KEW: H2000/02132 11, annotated by E. Alexeev in Nov. 1976. Specimen cut with permission and drawn by X. Chen . 2002. • Inflorenscence branch. Portion of inflorescence that is losely open with pedicels 2.5–5 mm long; spikelets 6–8.5(-9.5) mm long, greenish or purplish, florets 3–4; lemmas awns (3-)5–8 mm long. KEW: H2000/02132 11. • 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’.
