Festuca brachyphylla

HABIT Perennial; caespitose. Butt sheaths persistent and investing base of culm; with fibrous dead sheaths. Basal innovations intravaginal. Culms 10–15 cm long. Leaf-sheaths tubular for much of their length; with 0.5–0.75 of their length closed; with flat margins; glabrous on surface. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 0.5 mm long. Leaf-blades filiform; conduplicate; 0.5–0.7 mm wide; stiff. Leaf-blade venation comprising 5–7 vascular bundles; with 1–3 inner ridges; with 5 subepidermal sclerenchyma strands; with subepidermal sclerenchyma free from veins; without layer of subepidermal sclerenchyma masking vein striation. Leaf-blade surface smooth; glabrous, or puberulous; sparsely hairy.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle open; lanceolate; dense; 2–4 cm long. Primary panicle branches simple; bearing 1–2 fertile spikelets on each lower branch.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 5.5–7.3 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes obscured by lemmas.

GLUMES Glumes persistent; similar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume lanceolate; chartaceous; without keels; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate; 3.2–4.1 mm long; 0.75 length of adjacent fertile lemma; chartaceous; without keels; 3 -veined. Upper glume apex acuminate.

FLORETS Fertile lemma oblong; 3.7–5.5 mm long; chartaceous; glaucous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma apex acute; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 1.2–2 mm long overall. Palea 2 -veined. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

FLOWER Lodicules 2. Anthers 3; 0.7–1.3 mm long. Ovary glabrous.

FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; ellipsoid. Hilum linear. Disseminule comprising a caryopsis and palea.

CLEISTOGENES AND VIVIPARY Vegetative proliferation absent, or occurs.

DISTRIBUTION Europe: northern and eastern. Asia-temperate: Siberia, Soviet far east, Soviet Middle Asia, China, and Mongolia. North America: Subarctic.

NOTES Poeae. Fl Eur 1995.

Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.