Festuca molokaiensis Soreng, P.M.Peterson & Catalán

Map

Holotype specimen

Description

Plants perennial, cespitose, with extravaginal innovations; cataphylls conspicuous, brownish. Culms up to 60-70 cm tall, scabrous below panicle. Leaf sheaths with margins fused for 1-2 mm at base, overlapping more than V2 the length below, purple-brownish at the base, greenish above, becoming fibrous at base in age; auricles absent; collars glabrous; ligules 1.5-2.5 mm long, scarious, glabrous, brownish, apex obtuse, dentate-erose; leaf blades of vegetative shoots approximately 34 cm x 2 mm, more or less pendant, flat with involute margins, glabrous and smooth abaxially, hirsute along protruding ribs adaxially and on mar- gins and apex, dull green, cross section similar to that of F aloha , about 2 mm wide bearing 25 larger vascular traces or veins, each with prominent ribs adaxially alternating with smaller ribs on the secondary and tertiary veins, bulliform cells between adaxial ribs, sclerenchyma strands present forming trabeculae or girders on most veins, sclerenchyma strands with thin cell walls (adaxially) and thick cell walls (abaxially); leaf blades of culms about 21 cm x 2 mm, flat with involute margins, densely scabrous adaxially. Panicles 8.5-13 x 4 cm, loosely contracted with approximately 75 spikelets, spikelets located at the ends of the branches, 3(4) branches on basal node, 2(3) branches in other nodes, axis and branches strongly scabrous; basal branches as long as 7 cm, more than 1/2 the length of the panicle, angled, suberect to ascending. Spikelets 7-9 x 3-4 mm, 5-6-flowered, broadly lanceolate, pale green; pedicels (2-) 4(-9) mm long; ra- chilla internodes scabrous; glumes lanceolate, green, margins very narrow, scarious, apex acute; lower glumes (5.0-)5.2-5.5(-5.7) mm long, 1-veined; upper glumes (6.0-)6.2-6.8(-7.0) mm long, 3-veined; lemmas (5.0-)5. 5-6.0 mm long, 5-veined, scabrous dorsally and near apex, green, awn 1.5-2.5 mm long, scabrous; callus rounded, obliquely angled (to 45°), scabrous; paleas slightly shorter than lemma, bidentate at apex, keels scabrous, between keels scabrous; stamens 3, anthers 2.8-3.0 mm long; ovary densely hairy on upper 1/3. Caryopsis not seen.
(Description source: Catalán, P., Soreng, R. J., & Peterson, P. M. (2009). Festuca aloha and F. molokaiensis (Poaceae: Loliinae), two new species from Hawai'i. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 51-58. )