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  4. Festuca coxii

Festuca coxii

An image of Festuca coxii in full flower, Otauwae Point, Chatham Island, January 2006.<br>Photographer: Peter J. de Lange, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Festuca coxii close up of flowering plant, Te Koparuparu Bay, Chatham Island, January 2006.<br>Photographer: Peter J. de Lange, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Showing typical habitat, Ohira Bay, Chatham Island.<br>Photographer: Kelvin Lloyd, Licence: All rights reserved.
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Common name

Cox’s fescue

Synonyms

Agropyrum coxii Petrie

Family

Poaceae

Authority

Festuca coxii (Petrie) Hack.

Flora category

Vascular – Native

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Structural class

Grasses

NVS code

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

FESCOX

Chromosome number

2n = 56

Current conservation status

  • Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017

The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.

2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE, RR

Previous conservation statuses

2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE

2004 | Range Restricted

Distribution

Endemic. Chatham Islands only where it has been recorded from the islands, islets and rock stacks except the Pyramid and Western Reef

Habitat

Strictly coastal where it grow son rock ledges, cliff faces, rock stacks, peaty turf, amongst petrel burrows and on exposed, wind blasted ridge lines

Features

Glaucous to dark green tufted tussock. Branching intravaginal, sometimes with internodes elongating below and rooting at nodes; inflorescence short, compact, usually shorter than tall leaf-blades, nodding, with numerous long awned abundantly prickle-toothed florets borne on shortly pedicelled spikelets. Leaf-sheath 80-200 mm long, thin, pale much broader than leaf-blades, minutely retrorsely or antrorsely hairy between nerves becoming glabrous above, margins dark brown membranous below; apical auricles 0-0.5 mm, ciliate. Collar conspicuously thickened and curved. Ligule 0.3-0.5 mm, ciliate. Leaf-blade 110-400 × 0.5-0.9 mm, glaucous to dark green, softly sharp-pointed, terete to somewhat compressed, glabrous, upper surface and margin bearing numerous short (0.15 mm) antrorse or erect prickle-teeth, these diminishing in size above. Culm 250-450 mm, almost always included by leaf-blades; nodes 2-3 dark, glabrous, sometimes ± geniculate; internodes glabrous or densely antrorsely short hairy sometimes becoming less so below. Panicle 60-150 mm, narrow, compact, nodding, with 8-11 nodes of 12-18 close set, usually overlapping, spikelets; branches short, erect-appressed, basal branch 10-20 mm of 3-5 spikelets, not naked below, uppermost 6-10 spikelets solitary on short pedicels; rachis branches and pedicels prickle-toothed on margins, and frequently also densely antrorsely short hairy becoming less so above, or ± glabrous. Spikelets 15-30 × 5-6 mm, of 5-7 florets. Glumes unequal, green centrally, broad, narrowing, becoming awned, prominently keeled, glabrous except for prickle-teeth on keel above and below awn, margin hyaline sometimes short hairy and finely ciliate; usually equating with lowermost lemma, twice as long as nearest proximate internodes or in upper panicle twice proximate internodes of solitary spikelets; lower 4-10 mm, 1-nerved, upper 6-12 mm, 3-nerved. Lemma 6-10 mm, lobes 0 or minute, 5-nerved, slightly keeled, abundantly prickle-toothed throughout, longer teeth and/or hairs below, and on keel and at margins below; awn 6-13 mm, usually < lemma, apex deeply bifid, keels toothed to base, interkeel hairs above, margins of flanks shortly toothed; sometimes folded. Callus 0.3-0.6 mm, long hairy on upper margin, shorter centrally; articulation acute. Rachilla 1.0-1.6 mm, densely antrorsely long hairy. Anthers 3.7-4.2 mm. orange. Ovary 1.0-1.4 mm, triangular turbinate, apex with narrow rim enclosing base of styles and central tuft of hispid hairs (0.2 mm long); stigma-styles 2.5-3.0 mm. Seed 3.7-4.6 mm long. Flowers opening (not cleistogamous).

Similar taxa

Similar to F. contracta Kirk from which it differs by its more widely spreading, rather than erect growth habit, elongate rather than flabellate intravaginal branching; awns 6-13 mm and » than lemma, rather than 1.5-2.5 mm and

Flowering

November - February

Flower colours

Orange

Fruiting

January - April

Life cycle

Florets are dispersed by wind, water and attachment (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Propagation technique

Easy from fresh seed and division of whole plants. Often short-lived and dislikes humidity

Threats

Widespread and common in sites inaccessible to stock. Not seriously threatened though in common with the majority of Chatham Islands endemics its range has contracted following human settlement.

Etymology

festuca: From the Latin festuca ‘stem’ or ‘blade of grass’

Where To Buy

Not commercially available.

Attribution

Description modified from Edgar and Connor (2000)

References and further reading

Edgar, E.; Connor, H.E. 2000: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Christchurch, Manaaki Whenua Press. 650 pp.

Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309

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