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 frederikseniae

HABIT Perennial; caespitose; clumped densely. Rhizomes absent. Butt sheaths green; persistent and investing base of culm; with compacted dead sheaths. Basal innovations intravaginal. Culms erect; 15–30 cm long; 1 -noded. Culm-nodes glabrous. Leaf-sheaths open for most of their length; longer than adjacent culm internode; without keel; glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath oral hairs lacking. Leaf-sheath auricles erect. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 0.25–0.5 mm long. Collar glabrous. Leaf-blades erect; conduplicate; 4–11 cm long; 0.3–0.75 mm wide; 1.5–3 cm long at summit of culm; stiff; glaucous. Leaf-blade venation comprising 5–7 vascular bundles; with 1 inner ridges; with sclerenchyma strands below veins; with 5–7 subepidermal sclerenchyma strands; with subepidermal sclerenchyma free from veins; with sclerenchyma strands widened to form a discontinuous subepidermal layer, or with continuous uniform subepidermal sclerenchyma layer on the underside. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade margins glabrous.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle contracted; linear; 1.5–4 cm long. Primary panicle branches appressed; 1 -nate; 0.2–0.7 cm long; bearing 1–2 fertile spikelets on each lower branch.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1–5 fertile florets. Spikelets laterally compressed; 10–35 mm long; 2–3.5 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.

GLUMES Glumes persistent; dissimilar. Lower glume 2–3 mm long; 1 -veined. Lower glume surface puberulous. Lower glume margins ciliate. Upper glume 3–4.6 mm long; 3 -veined. Upper glume surface puberulous. Upper glume margins ciliate.

FLORETS Fertile lemma 4.3–5.5 mm long; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma surface puberulous. Lemma apex acuminate; muticous, or mucronate. Palea 5.3 mm long. Palea surface pubescent; hairy on back.

FLOWER Lodicules 2; 0.9 mm long; glabrous. Anthers 3; 2.5 mm long. Ovary glabrous.

FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; glabrous.

CLEISTOGENES AND VIVIPARY Vegetative proliferation occurs.

DISTRIBUTION North America: Subarctic.

NOTES Poeae. Aitken 2000.

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