New! - Search other data sources for Festuca pachyphylla

Help - Wrong Description?

Kew Data Sources

Kew's Herbarium Catalogue
ePIC - Electronic Plant Information Centre

External Data Sources

Note - this takes you off of our website
Use your browser's back button to return to this page

GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

Descriptions

W.D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, K.T. Harman & H. Williamson

© Copyright The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Festuca pachyphylla

HABIT Perennial; caespitose; clumped densely. Butt sheaths persistent and investing base of culm; with compacted dead sheaths. Basal innovations intravaginal. Culms 27–54 cm long. Culm-internodes smooth, or scaberulous. Leaf-sheaths open for most of their length; with 0–0.33 of their length closed; with flat margins; glabrous on surface, or pubescent. Leaf-sheath auricles erect; obtuse. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blades filiform; conduplicate; elliptic in section; 0.9–1 mm wide; glaucous; without exudate. Leaf-blade midrib keeled beneath. Leaf-blade venation comprising 7–9 vascular bundles; with 3–5 inner ridges; with 5 subepidermal sclerenchyma strands; with subepidermal sclerenchyma strands unequal in size; with subepidermal sclerenchyma free from veins; without layer of subepidermal sclerenchyma masking vein striation. Leaf-blade surface smooth. Leaf-blade apex obtuse.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle open; dense; 5.5–8 cm long. Panicle branches puberulous.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 4–5 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 8.1–9.1 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 ovate; 4–5.1 mm long; 0.75 length of adjacent fertile lemma; chartaceous; without keels; 3 -veined. Upper glume apex acuminate.

FLORETS Fertile lemma oblong; 5.4–6.5 mm long; chartaceous; glaucous, or purple; suffused with last colour; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma apex acuminate; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 2–3 mm long overall; 0.33–0.5 length of lemma. Palea 2 -veined. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

FLOWER Anthers 3.

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

DISTRIBUTION Europe: southeastern.

NOTES Poeae. Fl Eur 1995.

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