Festuca undata Stapf In J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. Ind. 7: 350. 1897.
ÇúÖ¦Ñòé QU ZHI YANG MAO.
Vegetative morphology. Plants loosely tufted. Plants with non-flowering shoots rare or absent. Plants with leaves along the stems. Plants with tillering leaves 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the culms. Plants with shoots intravaginal. Culms (25–)30–65 cm tall. Culms 1–1.5 mm wide. Culms strict, erect. Culms internodes glabrous. Culms nodes 2–3. Uppermost culms nodes in lower 1/3 of the culm, or in mid 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 0.3–0.4(–0.5) mm long. Ligules margins ciliolate, or without cilia. Ligules apices erose, or lacerate. Leaf blades more or less lax. Leaf blades linear. Leaf blades flat, or involute. Leaf blades adaxial lateral longitudinal ridges indistinctly raised. Leaf blades 3–10(–15) cm long. Leaf blades 1.5–2.9 mm wide. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces with trichomes. Leaf blades adaxial surfaces scabrous (or scaberulous). Leaf blades abaxial surfaces glabrous. Flag leaves blades 6–12 cm long. Flag leaves blades distinctly shorter than the sheath. Leaf blades Leaf blades Veins (7–)12–14. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands present. Abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed. Abaxial sclerenchyma in narrow or discrete strands. Ribs 7–9.
Floral morphology. Inflorescences broadly lanceolate. Inflorescences loosely open. Inflorescences (3–)5–12(–16) cm long. Inflorescences branches 4–9 cm long. Inflorescences lowest internodes 3.5–4.5 cm long. Inflorescences branches at the lowest nodes 1, or 2 (rarely). Inflorescences branches flexible. 10–18 fertile spikelets on the longest branches. Inflorescences branches scabrous on the angles. Inflorescences branches vestiture sparse, or moderate. Pedicels 2–5 mm long. Spikelets loosely scattered in an open panicle with slender branches. Spikelets 6–8.5 mm long. Spikelets greenish, or purplish. Spikelets lanceolate. Florets (2–)3–4(–5). Glumes glabrous, or with trichomes. Glumes surfaces scabrous. Glumes vestiture on the veins (on mid-veins). Glumes margins not ciliate. Glumes margins broadly membranous, or narrowly membranous. Glumes apices accuminate. First glume narrowly lanceolate, or lanceolate. First glume (2.1–)2.8–4.5 mm long. First glume 1 nerved. Second glume broadly lanceolate, or oblong. Second glume 3.8–6 mm long. Second glume 3 nerved. Second glume shorter than first lemma, or similar in length to first lemma. Rachilla internodes 0.7–1 mm long. Rachilla internodes antrorsely scabrous. Rachilla internodes flattened. Rachilla internodes narrow. Rachilla internodes straight. Lemmas 5.5–7 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate, or broadly lanceolate. Lemmas weakly keeled. Lemmas veins 5. Lemmas with distinct veins in dorsal view. Lemmas glabrous, or with trichomes (sparsely). Lemmas scabrous. Lemmas trichomes over the entire surface. Lemmas upper margins narrowly membranous. Lemmas apices accuminate. Lemmas apices awns present. Lemmas apices awns 0.5–2 mm long. Lemmas apices awns much shorter than the lemmas. Paleas 5–5.5 mm long. Paleas 0.5–0.7 mm apart. Paleas keels scaberulous, or scabrous. Paleas inter-keel regions glabrous. Anthers 1–1.2 mm long. Ovary apices hairy. Ovary hairs moderate.
Ecology. Flowering time Jun. On gassy places of mountain slopes, along forests edges; 4100–4800m. Distribution. Southwestern China: Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang.
Notes. Lu (1992) placed this taxon in subg. Drymanthele sect. Sinenses. In both the cladistic and clustering analyses this taxon moved around but always aligned with other taxa in subg. Subulatae.
Illustrations. • Herbarium specimen. This specimen has culms with 2 exposed nodes, relatively flat leaf blades, anthers 1–1.2 mm long, and the ovary apex is moderately densely hairy. In this it fits the description in J.D. Hooker, for F. undata. as annotated by H.J. Nolte in 1999. Alexeev had annotated this specimen as F. nitidula in 1975 KEW: H2000/02132 3. • Leaf anatomy 1. Leaf blades relatively flat, 0.5–2(-3) mm wide, 0.5–0.7 mm deep; veins 11–13; adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands present; abaxial sclerenchyma poorly developed, in discrete, relatively narrow strands opposite the veins; ribs 7 (only central rib and 6 lateral ribs well defined). Leaf cross on leaf from specimen KEW: H2000/02132 3. H.J. Nolte annotated in 1999. • Leaf anatomy 2. Leaf cross section illustrated in Byull. Mosk. Obshch. Ispyt. Prir. Biol. 83(4): 115. (E. Alexeev, 1978.) applied to the name F. undata. It is different from previous leaf cross section in having 7 veins. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent. The differences in the two leaf cross sections we have illustrated suggest that there are different opinions about the plants that the species name is applied to. • Inflorescence branch. Inflorescences loosely open, (3-)5–12(-16) cm long, branches 4–9 cm long, lowest internodes 3.5–4.5 cm long. Pedicels 2–5 mm long. Spikelets 5–6 mm long, yellowish, anceolate. Florets (2-)3–4. Lemmas awns 1–2 mm long. KEW: H2000/02132 3. H.J. Nolte annotated in 1999. • 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’.
