New! - Search other data sources for Festuca washingtonica

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 washingtonica

HABIT Perennial; caespitose; clumped densely. Rhizomes absent. Basal innovations extravaginal, or intravaginal. Culms erect; 60–100 cm long; 1–2 -noded. Leaf-sheaths tubular for much of their length; mostly shorter than adjacent culm internode; glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath auricles absent. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 0.2–0.5 mm long. Collar glabrous, or pilose. Leaf-blades flat, or conduplicate; 13–35 cm long; 2–3 mm wide; 8.5–17 cm long at summit of culm; stiff; glaucous. Leaf-blade venation comprising 7–9 vascular bundles; with 7 inner ridges; with sclerenchyma strands widened to form a discontinuous subepidermal layer, or with continuous uniform subepidermal sclerenchyma layer on the underside. Leaf-blade surface puberulous; hairy adaxially, or on both sides.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle contracted; linear; dense; 10–15 cm long; with spikelets clustered towards branch tips. Primary panicle branches appressed; 1–2 -nate; 0.5–6 cm long; bearing 2–8 fertile spikelets on each lower branch.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 3–10 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets laterally compressed; 9.5–10 mm long; 1.5–2.5 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes 0.9–1.5 mm long; scaberulous.

GLUMES Glumes persistent; dissimilar. Lower glume 3.5–5.5 mm long; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume surface puberulous; hairy at apex. Lower glume margins ciliate. Upper glume 5.5–7 mm long; 3 -veined. Upper glume surface puberulous; hairy at apex. Upper glume margins ciliate.

FLORETS Fertile lemma 6.5–11 mm long; 5 -veined. Lemma lateral veins obscure. Lemma apex awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 1.5–3.5 mm long overall. Palea 6–7 mm long. Palea surface pubescent; hairy on back.

FLOWER Lodicules 1; 1–1.5 mm long; glabrous. Anthers 3; 3–4 mm long. Ovary pubescent on apex.

CLEISTOGENES AND VIVIPARY Vegetative proliferation absent.

DISTRIBUTION North America: northwest USA.

NOTES Poeae. Aitken 2000.

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