Volga Fescue

The name Festuca valesiaca is used here in a broad sense, distinguished from the F. rubra complex by its intravaginal shoots and weakly defined ribs; from the F. ovina complex by its discrete sclerenchyma strands; and from the F. cumminsii complex by its leaf sheaths open for more than half their length. Subspecies that have been recognized within this complex occurring in or near China are distinguished as follows.

Plant densely tufted; shoots intravaginal. Culms 20–35(–50) cm tall, nodes 1(–2). Leaf sheaths glabrous or basal leaf sheaths occasionally with trichomes; auricles present as erect swellings; leaf blades filiform, green or bluish, conduplicate, (2–)6–15(–20) cm × 0.3–1.1 mm, veins (3–)5(–7); adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands absent, abaxial sclerenchyma in 3(–5) discrete strands; ligule 0.1–0.3 mm, margin ciliate. Panicle spikelike, 3–7 cm; branches 1–2.5 cm, scabrid, 1 at lowest node. Spikelets 4.5–6 mm, greenish brown or purplish; florets (2–)3–5; glumes sometimes with ciliolate margins; lower glume lanceolate, 2–2.6(–3.5) mm; upper glume broadly lanceolate, 3–4.2 mm; rachilla internodes 0.4–0.8(–1.2) mm; lemmas 3.8–5 mm, scabrid; awns 0.7–2.2 mm; palea keels scabrid. Anthers (1–)1.6–2.4 mm. Ovary apex glabrous. Fl. and fr. May–Aug.

Tufted perennial without rhizomes; culms 10-40(-50)cm high, erect, slender. Leaf-blades folded-setaceous, up to 15cm long, scabrid on the lower (outer) surface, glaucous- pruinose, with 3 sclerenchyma strands, 1 on the keel and 1 along each margin, 5-nerved; ligule a narrow rim 0.3-0.5mm long. Panicle narrowly oblong, 3.5-12cm long, contracted, the branches ascending, ± appressed to the main axis, scabrid. Spikelets (3-)5-7-flowered, (4-)5-6(-7.5)mm long (excluding the awns); lower glume 2-3.5mm long, 1-nerved; upper glume 3-5mm long, 3-nerved; lemmas narrowly oblong-elliptic in side-view, (2.8-)3.2-4.2 (-4.7)mm long, scabrid in the upper part, with an awn 1-3mm long; palea-keels scabrid above, smooth below; anthers 2-3mm long; ovary glabrous.

Guizhou, Jilin, Qinghai, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan; SW Asia, Europe].

Grassy mountain slopes, subalpine meadows, grasslands, roadsides; 1000–3700 m.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose , Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades very narrow or filiform, less than 2 mm wide, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades glaucous, blue-green, or grey, or with white glands, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disa rticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn less than 1 cm long, Lemma awned from tip, Lemma awns straight or curved to base, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Festuca valesiaca, the Volga fescue, is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia. It was introduced to North America when it was deliberately planted. There it can be found in such US states as Arizona, Kansas, Montana, Vermont and Wyoming.