Festuca viviparoidea

HABIT Perennial; caespitose; clumped moderately, or densely. Rhizomes absent, or elongated. Butt sheaths green, or purple; persistent and investing base of culm; with fibrous dead sheaths. Basal innovations extravaginal, or intravaginal. Culms erect; 11–28 cm long; 1 -noded. Culm-internodes distally glabrous, or pubescent. Lateral branches lacking. Leaf-sheaths open for most of their length, or tubular for much of their length; without keel; glabrous on surface, or puberulous. Leaf-sheath auricles erect. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 0.1–0.5 mm long. Collar glabrous. Leaf-blades conduplicate; 3–16 cm long; 0.35–0.6 mm wide; glaucous. Leaf-blade venation comprising 5–7 vascular bundles; with 1 inner ridges; with subepidermal sclerenchyma free from veins; without layer of subepidermal sclerenchyma masking vein striation. Leaf-blade surface puberulous; hairy on both sides.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle contracted; linear; dense; 1–3 cm long; with spikelets clustered towards branch tips. Primary panicle branches appressed; 1 -nate; 0.2–1 cm long; bearing 1–2 fertile spikelets on each lower branch.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1–4 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets laterally compressed; 7–25 mm long; 1.5–3 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.

GLUMES Glumes persistent; dissimilar. Lower glume 3–4.2 mm long; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume surface glabrous, or puberulous; hairy generally, or at apex. Lower glume margins eciliate, or ciliate. Upper glume 3.6–6 mm long; 3 -veined. Upper glume surface glabrous, or puberulous; hairy generally, or at apex. Upper glume margins eciliate, or ciliate.

FLORETS Fertile lemma 3.6–6.9 mm long; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma lateral veins obscure. Lemma surface puberulous; hairy all along, or above. Lemma apex muticous, or awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 0–0.8 mm long overall. Palea 4.8–5.2 mm long. Palea surface pubescent; hairy on back. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

FLOWER Anthers 3; 2 mm long. Ovary glabrous.

FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; glabrous.

CLEISTOGENES AND VIVIPARY Vegetative proliferation occurs.

DISTRIBUTION North America: Subarctic and western Canada.

NOTES Poeae. Aitken 2000.

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