pavilick83festucaocc

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Notes on the taxonomy and nomenclature of Festuca occidentalis and F . idahoensis LEONE. PAVLICK Botany Division, British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8V 1x4 Received August 10, 1981

L. E. 1983. Notes on the taxonomy and nomenclature of Festuca occidentalis and F. idahoensis. Can. J . Bot. 61: PAVLICK 337-344. Festuca occidentalis occurs in open forests and glades, always in at least partial shade. In British Columbia it occurs from the U.S.A. border to about latitude 57" N. It has leaf structure, panicle structure, spikelet length, glume length, lemma length, lemma scabrosity, awn length, anther length, and ovary vestiture which are different from F. idahoensis. Festuca idahoensis is found in grasslands (including subalpine meadows) and in openings in dry forests bordering grasslands, always in open, nonshaded situations. In British Columbia it occurs from the U.S.A. border northward to about 51" N. Despite the recent lumping of these two taxa, morphological and ecological evidence strongly suggests that they should be treated as separate species.

PAVLICK L. E. 1983. Notes on the taxonomy and nomenclature of Festuca occidentalis and F. idahoensis. Can. J . Bot. 61: 337-344.

Festuca occidentalis croit dans les forets ouvertes et les clairitres, toujours dans des endroits au moins partiellement ombragts. En Colombie-Britannique, il se rencontre de la frontitre amtricaine jusqu'h environ le 57" N. I1 difftre de F. idahoensis par la

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structure des feuilles et de la panicule, par la longueur des tpillets, des glumes et des lemmas, par la scabrtitt du lemma, la longueur de l'arete, la longueur de I'anthtre et la pubescence de I'ovaire. Festuca idahoensis se rencontre dans les prairies (y compris les prairies subalpines) et dans les ouvertures des for& stches c6toyant les prairies, toujours dans des endroits ouverts et non ombragts; en Colombie-Britannique, il se rencontre de la frontitre amtricaine jusqu'au 51" N environ. Meme si ces deux taxons ont rtcemment ttC fondus en un seul, les donntes morphologiques et tcologiques montrent qu'il est prtftrable de les considtrer cornrne deux esptces distinctes. [Traduit par le journal]

spikelets, lemmas, awns, and anthers. Festuca ovina Introduction Hooker (1840) first described Festuca occidentalis has a chromosome number of 2n = 14 (Frederiksen from "plains and elevated grounds of the Columbia near 1981), while F. idahoensis has 2n = 28 (Hitchcock et the sea" and since then most botanists (e.g., Macoun al. 1969). From my own observations F . idahoensis is 1888; Beal 1896; St.-Yves 1925; Hitchcock 1951; also different from other taxa of the F . ovina complex in Hitchcock et al. 1969; Taylor and MacBryde 1977; North America (e.g .,F . saximontana Rydb., F. brachyLooman and Best 1979) have regarded it as distinct from phylla Schult. & Schult., F . bafinensis Polunin) in F. ovina L. having distinctly longer panicles, spikelets, lemmas, The taxon we now recognize as F . idahoensis was awns, and anthers. Because of the above dissimilarities I initially included in F . ovina L. under three different think F . idahoensis to be not only a distinct species from names: var. ingrata Hack. ex Beal; var. oregona Hack. F. ovina L. sensu stricto but also taxonomically well ex Beal; and var. columbiana Beal. Elmer (1903) separated from other members of the F. ovina complex described F . idahoensis without connecting it to the F . in North America. ovina varieties listed above. The name F. idahoensis Boivin (1967) included F . idahoensis in F . occidenwas not immediately taken up. Piper (1906) in his talis Hook. as F . occidentalis Hook. var. ingrata monograph on North American Festuca treated F . (Hack. ex Beal) Boivin. Reasons were not given for this idahoensis as F . ovina ingrata Hack. ex Beal and listed change. Boivin (1979) published the new combination as synonyms F . idahoensis and F . ovina varieties F. occidentalis Hook. var. oregona (Hack. ex Beal) columbiana and oregona. Eventually F. idahoensis was Boivin, transferring var. oregona (one of the taxonomic generally recognized as a species distinct from F. ovina elements generally included in F . idahoensis) from F. (e.g., Abrams 1923; St.-Yves 1925; Peck 1941; Hitch- ovina L. Reasons were not given for this change. cock 1951; Moss 1959; Hitchcock et al. 1969; Taylor Scoggan (1978) has followed Boivin, using the name F. and MacBryde 1977;Cronquist et al. 1977; Looman and occidentalis var. ingrata for the F . idahoensis taxon in Best 1979). Pavlick (1982) pointed out that F. idahoen- western Canada. sis has a very different leaf sclerenchyma pattern from During preliminary fieldwork and examination of the European F . ovina L. and distinctly longer panicles, herbarium specimens I carried out as part of a larger 0008-4026/83 /010337-08$01 .OO/O 01983 National Research Council of Canada/Conseil national de recherches du Canada


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