Festuca ultramafica

Detailed description

Tufted shortly rhizomatous ultramafic endemic grass with stiff, pungent, thick leaf-blades which are notably much shorter than the tall smooth culmed inflorescence of ± violet suffused spikelets. Branching extravaginal. Leaf-sheath 30–40 mm, striate, glabrous or minutely antrorsely prickle-toothed, becoming red-brown and fibrous; apical auricle 0.5–1 mm, rounded, ciliate. Ligule 0.5–1.0 mm, erose, ciliate. Leaf-blade 60–120 cm x 0.6–1.2 mm diameter, conduplicate, somewhat compressed, pungent, stiff, strict or slightly curved, ribbed, glabrous, adaxially and on margins abundant short white hairs. Culm 200–500 mm, » leaves, nodes visible, internodes glabrous, sometimes violet suffused below. Panicle narrow, 60–140 mm with 4–10 nodes, 12–25 spikelets; basal branch ascending, 30–80 mm, solitary or binate, with 3–5 spikelets, naked below, nodes 2–5 with branches of 2–4 spikelets, uppermost 3–5 spikelets solitary, imbricate on short pedicels; rachis glabrous or glabrous below becoming prickle-toothed, branches and pedicels prickle-toothed or glabrous, often tortuous below. Spikelets 8–14 × 3–4 mm, sometimes violet tinged, of 3–5 florets. Glumes unequal, margins long ciliate below shorter above, keeled, glabrous except for a few prickle-teeth on keel, usually violet suffused centrally or throughout; lower 2.5–4.5 mm, 1-nerved, long-triangular acute, awn 0.4–0.8 mm or absent, upper 3.5–5.3 mm, 3-nerved, oblong acute, awn 0.5–3 mm abrupt or tapering or absent. Lemma 5–7 mm, lobes 0 or minute, 5-nerved, glaucous, glabrous except below awn, scarcely keeled, margin long ciliate below shorter above; awn 1.5–4.2 mm. Palea 5.5–6.0 mm, greater than or equal to lemma, acute, deeply bifid, keels toothed above, interkeel hairs to base denser at apex, flank margins ciliate. Callus 0.2–0.5 mm, sparsely bearded except near rachilla, articulation ± flat to oblique. Rachilla 1.0–1.6 mm, densely short stiff hairy. Lodicules 0.7–1.2 mm, lobed, hair-tipped or glabrous. Anthers 2–3 mm, yellow or golden. Ovary 0.6 mm, hispid hairs at apex or absent; stigma-styles 2 mm. Seed 3.5 mm.