Festuca saximontana

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Festuca saximontana
Mountain fescue, Festuca saximontana (40035587265).jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Festuca
Species:
F. saximontana
Binomial name
Festuca saximontana
Synonyms [1]
  • Festuca brachyphylla subsp. saximontana(Rydb.) Hultén
  • Festuca ovina subsp. saximontana(Rydb.) St.-Yves

Festuca saximontana, the rocky mountain fescue or the mountain fescue, is a perennial grass native to North America. The specific epithet saximontana is Latin and means "of the Rocky Mountains". The grass has a diploid number of 42.

Contents

Taxonomy

Festuca saximontana was reduced by Hultén in 1942 to Festuca brachyphylla subsp. saximontana but recognized the species as separate in 1968 on the basis of anther length. In 1982 it was noted that F. saximontana differs from F. brachyphylla in its strongly developed leaf sclerenchyma and longer anthers. The two species are typically distinct, but intermediate specimens with an overlap of anther size, leaf size, and sclerenchyma development occur rarely in the northern areas of the distribution of F. saximontana. [2]

Description

Festuca saximontana is a bluish-grey to green densely tufted grass that lacks rhizomes. The grass has smooth, glabrous, occasionally scabrous culms growing 7–70 cm (2.8–27.6 in) tall. The culms sometimes become puberulent below the inflorescence. The glabrous and smooth or scabrous leaf sheaths are closed for half of their length and occasionally become shredded. Dead leaf sheaths persist at the base of the grass. The erose ligules measure 0.1–0.5 mm (0.0039–0.0197 in). The conduplicate leaf blades are 0.5–1.2 mm (0.020–0.047 in) in diameter, with glabrous abaxial surfaces and scabrous adaxial surfaces. The abaxial sclerenchyma is composed of three to seven strands that form a continuous band and the adaxial sclerenchyma is absent. The flag leaf blades are 0.5–4 cm (0.20–1.57 in) long. The panicles are mostly linear-cylindrical and occasionally loosely lanceolate, measuring 2–10 cm (0.79–3.94 in) long. One or two erect branches rise from each node of the inflorescence and become nodding during anthesis, measuring 0.5–3 cm (0.20–1.18 in) long. The greenish spikelets are loosely flowered with three to five florets and measure 4.5–8.8 mm (0.18–0.35 in). The coriaceous glumes are lance-subulate and become scabrous at their distal end. The lower glumes measure 1.5–3.5 mm (0.059–0.138 in) and have one vein, and the upper glumes measure 2.5–4.8 mm (0.098–0.189 in) and have three veins. The coriaceous lemmas are strongly curved, the longer of which measure 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long. The awns measure 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in). The paleas are 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long. The anthers are 1.2–1.7 mm (0.047–0.067 in) long. [3] [4]

Distribution and habitat

Festuca saximontana grows in dry or mesic grasslands, woodlands, and sand dunes throughout boreal, mountainous, and subalpine North America. [4] It grows at altitudes below 3,600 m (11,800 ft). [2]

Festuca saximontana occurs from Alaska to Greenland, as far south as California and New Mexico and as far east as the Great Lakes, and is rarely found in the Russian Far East. [4] It has a slightly more southern distribution than Festuca brachyphylla , not occurring in the Arctic circle or some of the Canadian archipelago. [2]

Ecology

Festuca saximontana is a host plant for the western branded skipper and the draco skipper. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Festuca</i> Genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae

Festuca (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae. They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of 10–200 cm (4–79 in) and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. The genus is closely related to ryegrass (Lolium), and recent evidence from phylogenetic studies using DNA sequencing of plant mitochondrial DNA shows that the genus lacks monophyly. As a result, plant taxonomists have moved several species, including the forage grasses tall fescue and meadow fescue, from the genus Festuca into the genus Lolium, or alternatively into the segregate genus Schedonorus.

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<i>Bromus hordeaceus</i> Species of grass

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<i>Bromus secalinus</i> Species of grass

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<i>Festuca occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Festuca occidentalis is a species of grass known as western fescue. It is native to much of the northern half of North America and is most widely distributed in the west. It is most often found in forest and woodland habitat. The specific epithet occidentalis is Latin, meaning "western".

<i>Bromus madritensis</i> Species of grass

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<i>Bromus briziformis</i> Species of grass

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<i>Bromus catharticus</i> Species of grass

Bromus catharticus is a species of brome grass known by the common names rescuegrass, grazing brome, prairie grass, and Schrader's bromegrass. The specific epithet catharticus is Latin, meaning cathartic. The common name rescuegrass refers to the ability of the grass to provide forage after harsh droughts or severe winters. The grass has a diploid number of 42.

<i>Bromus kalmii</i> Species of grass

Bromus kalmii, the Arctic brome or prairie brome, is a species of brome grass. It is a native bunchgrass in the North-central and Northeastern United States, the Great Lakes region, and eastern Canada. The specific epithet kalmii refers to its discoverer Pehr Kalm.

<i>Melica ciliata</i> Species of plant

Melica ciliata, the hairy melic or silky spike melic, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, native to Europe, north Africa and temperate Asia. It has been introduced to South Australia.

<i>Festuca vivipara</i> Species of grass

Festuca vivipara, the viviparous sheep's-fescue, is a species of grass native to northern Europe, northern Asia, and subarctic North America. The specific epithet vivipara is Latin, referring to the florets' alteration to leafy tufts. The plant can have a diploid number of 28, 49, 56, or 63, though numbers of 21, 35, and 42 have also been reported.

<i>Bromus erectus</i> Species of grass

Bromus erectus, commonly known as erect brome, upright brome or meadow brome, is a dense, course, tufted perennial grass. It can grow to 120 centimetres (47 in). Like many brome grasses the plant is hairy. The specific epithet erectus is Latin, meaning "erect". The diploid number of the grass is 56.

Melica tangutorum, is a species of grass found in China and Mongolia.

Melica kozlovii is a species of grass found on mountain slopes in Mongolia and China at 2,000–3,900 metres (6,600–12,800 ft) above sea level.

<i>Bromus japonicus</i> Species of grass

Bromus japonicus, the Japanese brome, is an annual brome grass native to Eurasia. The grass has a diploid number of 14.

<i>Bromus squarrosus</i> Species of grass

Bromus squarrosus, the rough brome, is a brome grass native to Russia and Europe. The specific epithet squarrosus is Latin, meaning "with spreading tips". The grass has a diploid number of 14.

<i>Festuca brachyphylla</i> Species of grass

Festuca brachyphylla, commonly known as alpine fescue or short-leaved fescue, is a grass native to Eurasia, North America, and the Arctic. The grass is used for erosion control and revegetation. The specific epithet brachyphylla means "short-leaved". The grass has a diploid number of 28, 42, or 44.

Bromus pacificus, the Pacific brome, is a perennial grass native to the Pacific coast of North America. Bromus pacificus has a diploid number of 28.

<i>Brachyelytrum erectum</i> Species of grass

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<i>Bromus racemosus</i> Species of grass in the genus Bromus

Bromus racemosus, the smooth brome or bald brome, is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae. It is native to subarctic and temperate Eurasia, and widely introduced elsewhere, including North America, Iceland, the Southern Cone of South America, the Korean Peninsula, Australia, and New Zealand. It grows in alkaline meadows and in waste places.

References

  1. ↑ Umberto Quattrocchi (2006). CRC World Dictionary of Grasses: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. CRC Press. p. 954. ISBN   9781420003222.
  2. 1 2 3 Aiken, S. G. & Darbyshire, S. J. (1935). Fescue grasses of Canada. Canada Department of Agriculture. p.  61-62. ISBN   0-660-13483-7.
  3. ↑ Merrit Lyndon Fernald (1970). R. C. Rollins (ed.). Gray's Manual of Botany (Eighth (Centennial) - Illustrated ed.). D. Van Nostrand Company. p. 105. ISBN   0-442-22250-5.
  4. 1 2 3 Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1993). Flora of North America: North of Mexico. Vol. 24. Oxford University Press. p. 430. ISBN   9780195310719.
  5. ↑ Leslie Angel (2005). Butterflies of Rocky Mountain National Park: An Observer's Guide (illustrated ed.). Big Earth Publishing. p. 229. ISBN   9781555663513.
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