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  1. Family: Poaceae Barnhart
    1. Genus: Festuca Tourn. ex L.

      1. Festuca azucarica E.B.Alexeev

        This species is accepted, and its native range is Colombia.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Perennial; caespitose; clumped densely. Cataphylls evident. Butt sheaths persistent and investing base of culm; with compacted dead sheaths. Basal innovations intravaginal. Culms erect; of moderate stature; straight; 50-100 cm long; 2 -noded; with 0.5-0.66 of their length below uppermost node; without nodal roots. Culm-internodes terete; smooth. Culm-nodes without exudate; glabrous. Lateral branches lacking. Leaves mostly basal; 0-1 per branch. Leaf-sheaths tight; unthickened at base; open for most of their length; without keel; striately veined; smooth. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 1-1.5 mm long; membranous; white; entire; obtuse. Leaf-blade base symmetrical. Leaf-blades straight; filiform; conduplicate; elliptic in section; 20-35 cm long; 0.9-1.1 mm wide; coriaceous; stiff; dark green. Leaf-blade midrib indistinct. Leaf-blade venation indistinct; comprising 11-13 vascular bundles; with 9-11 inner ridges; with 12 subepidermal sclerenchyma strands; with subepidermal sclerenchyma strands similar in size; with subepidermal sclerenchyma attached to veins above and below; with continuous uniform subepidermal sclerenchyma layer on the underside. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or hirsute; densely hairy; hairy adaxially. Leaf-blade margins smooth; glabrous. Leaf-blade apex obtuse.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle; with 1 peduncles per sheath. Peduncle terete; eglandular; glabrous. Panicle open; lanceolate, or oblong; continuous; dense; straight; 15-20 cm long. Primary panicle branches 4-8 cm long. Panicle branches scabrous. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 4-6 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets lanceolate; laterally compressed; 7.5-10 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Spikelet callus pilose. Rhachilla internodes scaberulous. Floret callus sparsely hairy.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 4-6 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets lanceolate; laterally compressed; 7.5-10 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Spikelet callus pilose. Rhachilla internodes scaberulous. Floret callus sparsely hairy.
    Glume
    Glumes persistent; dissimilar; subequal in width; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume lanceolate; 3-4 mm long; 0.75-0.9 length of upper glume; herbaceous, or coriaceous; dark green; without keels; 1 -veined. Lower glume primary vein scabrous. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate; 4-5.2 mm long; 0.75-0.9 length of adjacent fertile lemma; coriaceous; dark green; without keels; 3 -veined. Upper glume primary vein scabrous. Upper glume apex acute.
    Florets
    Fertile lemma lanceolate; symmetrical; 5.5-6 mm long; chartaceous; dark green; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma surface scabrous. Lemma apex acute; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn stiff; 1.5-2 mm long overall. Palea 2 -veined. Palea keels scabrous; adorned all along. Palea apex dentate; 2 -fid. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
    Flowers
    Lodicules 2. Anthers 3; 2.5-3 mm long. Ovary with a few apical hairs.
    Fruits
    Caryopsis with adherent pericarp. Hilum linear.
    Distribution
    South America: western South America.
    Reference
    Poeae. Stancik 2005.
    [CPLC]

    Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

    Distribution
    Endémica y nativa en Colombia; Alt. 3500 - 4000 m.; Andes.
    Habit
    Hierba
    Conservation
    No Evaluada

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Colombia

    Festuca azucarica E.B.Alexeev appears in other Kew resources:

    First published in Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) 69: 1546 (1984)

    Accepted by

    • Giraldo-Cañas, D. (2011). Catálogo de la familia Poaceae en Colombia Darwiniana 49: 139-247.
    • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Giraldo-Cañas, D. (2011). Catálogo de la familia Poaceae en Colombia Darwiniana 49: 139-247.

    Sources

    Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0