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 probatoviae

HABIT Perennial; caespitose. Basal innovations intravaginal. Culms erect; 10–20 cm long. Culm-internodes smooth. Lateral branches lacking. Leaf-sheaths tubular for much of their length; with 0.66–0.75 of their length closed; smooth. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 0.1 mm long; truncate. Leaf-blades filiform; conduplicate; angular in section, or elliptic in section; 5–10 cm long; 0.3–0.6 mm wide; glaucous. Leaf-blade venation comprising 5 vascular bundles; with 3 inner ridges; with sclerenchyma strands below veins; with (5–)7 subepidermal sclerenchyma strands; with subepidermal sclerenchyma free from veins; without layer of subepidermal sclerenchyma masking vein striation. Leaf-blade surface smooth. Leaf-blade apex acute.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle open; lanceolate, or oblong; 1.5–5 cm long. Panicle branches terete; smooth.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 4–6 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 6–6.5 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.

GLUMES Glumes persistent; dissimilar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume lanceolate; chartaceous; without keels; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate, or ovate; chartaceous; without keels; 3 -veined. Upper glume apex acute.

FLORETS Fertile lemma lanceolate; 3.4–4.2 mm long; chartaceous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma surface smooth, or scaberulous; rough above. Lemma apex acute; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 1.2–1.8 mm long overall. Palea 2 -veined. Palea keels scaberulous; with 0.33 of their length adorned. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

FLOWER Lodicules 2. Anthers 3; 1.1–1.3 mm long. Ovary glabrous.

FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp. Hilum linear.

DISTRIBUTION Asia-temperate: Soviet far east.

NOTES Poeae. Alexeev 2001.

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