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Texas fescue

little fescue, small-flower fescue

Habit Plants loosely cespitose, without rhizomes. Plants loosely or densely cespitose, without rhizomes.
Culms

50-100 cm, glabrous, somewhat glaucous;

nodes usually exposed.

4-30 cm, usually erect, sometimes semi-prostrate, glabrous, smooth.

Sheaths

closed for less than 1/3 their length, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, shredding into fibers;

ligules 0.5-1 mm;

blades 2-10 mm wide, flat, loosely conduplicate, or involute, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabrous, glabrous or puberulent, adaxial surfaces smooth or scabrous, veins 13-35, ribs obscure;

sclerenchyma in abaxial and adaxial strands;

girders formed at most major veins.

closed for about 1/2 their length, glabrous, persistent;

collars glabrous;

ligules 0.1-0.3 mm;

blades (0.2)0.3-0.4(0.6) mm in diameter, conduplicate, lax, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces sparsely scabrous to puberulent, veins 3-5, ribs 1-3;

abaxial sclerenchyma in 3-5 small strands, less than twice as wide as high;

adaxial sclerenchyma absent.

Inflorescences

(8)10-30(40) cm, open, with 1-2 branches per node;

branches lax, spreading, spikelets borne towards the ends of branches.

1-4(5) cm, contracted, with 1-2 branches per node;

branches erect, lower branches with 2+ spikelets.

Spikelets

6-11 mm, sometimes glaucous, with (2)3-5 florets.

(2.5)3-5 mm, with (1)2-3(5) florets.

Glumes

lanceolate, smooth or scabrous, acuminate;

lower glumes 4-7 mm;

upper glumes 5-7.5 mm;

lemmas 5-8 mm, chartaceous, lanceolate, glabrous, usually smooth, sometimes scabrous towards the apices, apices acute to acuminate, unawned, sometimes mucronate;

paleas as long as or slightly shorter than the lemmas, intercostal region puberulent distally;

anthers 2-3 mm;

ovary apices densely pubescent.

exceeded by the upper florets, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, sparsely scabrous distally;

lower glumes 1.3-2.5 mm;

upper glumes 2-3.5 mm;

lemmas (2)2.2-3.5(4) mm, ovate-lanceolate, sparsely scabrous near the apices, apices abruptly acuminate, awns 0.5-1.5(1.7) mm;

paleas about as long as or slightly shorter than the lemmas, intercostal region scabrous distally;

anthers (0.4)0.6-1.2 mm;

ovary apices usually with a few hairs, rarely glabrous.

Flag

leaf blades 0.7-3.5 cm.

2n

= unknown.

= 28.

Festuca versuta

Festuca minutiflora

Distribution
from FNA
AR; KS; OK; TN; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY; AB; BC; YT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Festuca versuta grows in moist, shaded sites on rocky slopes in open woods, from Oklahoma and Arkansas to Texas. It is an uncommon species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Festuca minutiflora grows in alpine regions of the western mountains, from southeastern Alaska and the southwestern Yukon Territory to Arizona, New Mexico, and the Sierra Nevada of California. It has often been overlooked or included with F. brachyphylla (p. 428), from which it differs in its laxer and narrower leaves, looser panicles, smaller spikelets, more pointed lemmas, shorter awns, and scattered hairs on the ovary. In the southern Rocky Mountains, it may grow with F. earlei (p. 420), which has short rhizomes and larger spikelets and lemmas. Festuca minutiflora has frequently been included in F. ovina (p. 422).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 400. FNA vol. 24, p. 434.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Festuca > subg. Montanae > sect. Texanae Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Festuca > subg. Festuca > sect. Festuca
Sibling taxa
F. altaica, F. amethystina, F. arizonica, F. auriculata, F. baffinensis, F. brachyphylla, F. brevissima, F. californica, F. calligera, F. campestris, F. dasyclada, F. earlei, F. edlundiae, F. elmeri, F. filiformis, F. frederikseniae, F. glauca, F. groenlandica, F. hallii, F. heterophylla, F. hyperborea, F. idahoensis, F. lenensis, F. ligulata, F. minutiflora, F. occidentalis, F. ovina, F. paradoxa, F. prolifera, F. pseudovivipara, F. roemeri, F. rubra, F. saximontana, F. sororia, F. subulata, F. subuliflora, F. subverticillata, F. thurberi, F. trachyphylla, F. valesiaca, F. viridula, F. viviparoidea, F. washingtonica
F. altaica, F. amethystina, F. arizonica, F. auriculata, F. baffinensis, F. brachyphylla, F. brevissima, F. californica, F. calligera, F. campestris, F. dasyclada, F. earlei, F. edlundiae, F. elmeri, F. filiformis, F. frederikseniae, F. glauca, F. groenlandica, F. hallii, F. heterophylla, F. hyperborea, F. idahoensis, F. lenensis, F. ligulata, F. occidentalis, F. ovina, F. paradoxa, F. prolifera, F. pseudovivipara, F. roemeri, F. rubra, F. saximontana, F. sororia, F. subulata, F. subuliflora, F. subverticillata, F. thurberi, F. trachyphylla, F. valesiaca, F. versuta, F. viridula, F. viviparoidea, F. washingtonica
Name authority Beal Rydb.
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