Festuca coxii

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).