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

      1. Festuca modesta Steud.

        This species is accepted, and its native range is Himalaya to Central China.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Perennial; caespitose. Culms erect; robust; 75-150 cm long. Leaf-sheaths open for most of their length. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 3-6 mm long. Leaf-blades flat; 30-60 cm long; 6-23 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface ungrooved.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; lanceolate, or ovate; 15-30 cm long. Primary panicle branches ascending, or spreading. Panicle branches scabrous. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 3-5 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 10-16 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 3-5 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 10-16 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.
    Glume
    Glumes persistent; dissimilar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume lanceolate; 3.5-4.5 mm long; 0.7-0.8 length of upper glume; chartaceous; without keels; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate; 4.5-5.5 mm long; 0.5 length of adjacent fertile lemma; chartaceous; without keels; 3 -veined. Upper glume apex acuminate.
    Florets
    Fertile florets divergent. Fertile lemma oblong; 8-10 mm long; chartaceous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma surface scaberulous; rough generally. Lemma apex acuminate; muticous. Palea 1 length of lemma; 2 -veined. Palea keels scaberulous. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
    Flowers
    Anthers 3; 3-3.5 mm long. Ovary pubescent on apex.
    Fruits
    Caryopsis with adherent pericarp. Hilum linear.
    Distribution
    Asia-temperate: China. Asia-tropical: India.
    Reference
    Poeae. Fl Pak 1993.
    [GB]
    Habit
    Perennial; culms solitary, or caespitose; clumped loosely. Basal innovations extravaginal. Culms erect; 60-85 cm long; 2-3 -noded. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 2.5-3.5 mm long. Leaf-blades flat, or convolute; 3-4(-6) mm wide. Leaf-blade venation with sclerenchyma strands below veins and above all veins.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; ovate; 15-30 cm long. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 3-4 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 9-10 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes 1-1.5 mm long.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 3-4 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 9-10 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes 1-1.5 mm long.
    Glume
    Glumes persistent; dissimilar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume lanceolate; 2.5-3 mm long; 0.66 length of upper glume; chartaceous; without keels; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate; 4-4.5 mm long; 0.5 length of adjacent fertile lemma; chartaceous; without keels; 3 -veined. Upper glume apex acuminate.
    Florets
    Fertile lemma oblong; 6.4-8 mm long; chartaceous; without keel; 3 -veined. Lemma surface smooth. Lemma apex acuminate; muticous. Palea 1 length of lemma; 2 -veined. Palea keels scabrous. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
    Flowers
    Anthers 3; 2.8-3.2 mm long. Ovary pubescent on apex.
    Distribution
    Asia-temperate: China.
    Reference
    Poeae. Fl China 2007.

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    China North-Central, China South-Central, Nepal, Qinghai, West Himalaya

    Festuca modesta Steud. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Nov 1, 1975 Royle, J.F. [s.n.], India K000032119
    Nov 1, 1975 Royle, J.F. [s.n.], India K000913245

    First published in Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 316 (1854)

    Accepted by

    • Kandwal, M.K. & Gupta, B.K. (2009). An update on grass flora of Uttarkhand Indian Journal of Forestry 32: 657-668.
    • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2006). Poaceae Flora of China 22: 1-733. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
    • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Press, J.R. et al. (2000). Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal: i-x, 1-430. Natural History Museum, London.
    • Karthikeyan, S., Jain, S.K., Nayar, M.P. & Sanjappa, M. (1989). Florae Indicae Enumeratio: Monocotyledonae: 1-435. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta.
    • Cope, T.A. (1982). Flora of Pakistan 143: 1-678. Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi.

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Kandwal, M.K. & Gupta, B.K. (2009). An update on grass flora of Uttarkhand Indian Journal of Forestry 32: 657-668.
    • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2006). Poaceae Flora of China 22: 1-733. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
    • Press, J.R. et al. (2000). Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal: i-x, 1-430. Natural History Museum, London.

    Sources

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

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/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