Festuca viviparoidea

Plants loosely or densely cespitose, without rhizomes. Culms (11)13.5-25(28) cm, smooth and glabrous throughout or sparsely to densely scabrous or puberulent below the inflorescence. Sheaths closed for about 1/2 their length, glabrous or scabrous, stramineous or brownish, persistent or slowly shredding into fibers; collars glabrous; ligules 0.1-0.5 mm; blades 0.5-1 mm in diameter, conduplicate, abaxial surfaces glabrous, smooth or scabrous, adaxial surfaces scabrous, veins 5-7, ribs 3-5, 1 distinct and 2-4 indistinct; abaxial sclerenchyma in 3-7 small strands, covering less than 1/2 the abaxial surface and usually less than twice as wide as high. Inflorescences (1)3-4.8 cm, contracted, usually panicles, sometimes racemes, erect, with 1-2 branches per node; branches erect, lower branches with (1)2+ spikelets. Spikelets pseudoviviparous, their length varying with the stage of vegetative proliferation, the glumes and often 1 or 2 adjacent florets more or less normally developed, or only slightly elongated, the distal florets replaced by bracts. Glumes lanceolate, glabrous and smooth, sometimes scabrous towards the apices, or puberulent throughout or only towards the apices; lower glumes (2)3-6 mm; upper glumes (2.7)3-7 mm; normal lemmas 3.3-6 mm, mostly smooth or scabrous distally, glabrous or puberulent, awned or unawned, sometimes varying within a panicle, awns to 1 mm; vegetative bracts unawned, leaflike, sometimes with ligules; paleas usually reduced or absent, well-formed paleas about as long as the lemmas, intercostal region scabrous or puberulent distally; anthers usually not developed, well-formed anthers to about 2 mm; ovaries sometimes not developed; ovary apices, when present, glabrous. 2n = 49, 56.

Distribution

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• Legacy Map

Mont., Alaska, Alta., B.C., Greenland, Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., Nunavut, Que., Yukon, Wyo.

Discussion

Festuca viviparoidea is circumboreal in distribution. It may consist of hybrids between Festuca baffinensis (p. 432) and F. brachyphylla (p. 428) and/or other species (see under F. frederikseniae, above). It has frequently been included in F. ovina (p. 422).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Festuca viviparoidea subsp. krajinae, Festuca viviparoidea subsp. viviparoidea

Key

1	Plants loosely cespitose; culms usually glabrous and smooth throughout, rarely sparsely puberulent near the inflorescence; sheaths brownish, slowly shredding into fibers; abaxial sclerenchyma strands less than 2 times as wide as high; glumes and lemmas puberulent throughout or only near the apices	Festuca viviparoidea subsp. krajinae
1	Plants densely cespitose; culms densely to sparsely puberulent below the inflorescence; shearhs stramineous, persistent; abaxial sclerenchyma strands 2-3 times wider than high; glumes and lemmas smooth or scabrous near the apices	Festuca viviparoidea subsp. viviparoidea