Calamagrostis kokonorica Keng ex Tzvelev (1968: 84)

Paszko, Beata, Chen, Wen-Li & Liu, Bing, 2016, Confirmation of Calamagrostis salina in China, previously misidentified as C. macilenta, and notes about C. kokonorica and C. macilenta (Poaceae, Agrostidinae), Phytotaxa 268 (4), pp. 251-262 : 258-260

3. Calamagrostis kokonorica Keng ex Tzvelev (1968: 84) ; Figs. 1 , 2 , 4 & 6 .

Deyeuxia kokonorica (Keng ex Tzvelev) Lu (1987b: 216) .

Type: — CHINA. Qinghai: Gonghe, Kokonor Lake , SE of Cunguojiala, open moist steppe, [ca. 3200 m, 36°17‘N, 100°37‘E], 11 August 1944, Keng & Keng f. 5305 (holotype N, now probably lost; isotype K000838359!) .

Description: —Plants tightly caespitose with short rhizomes. Culms 20–50 cm, unbranched, glabrous; nodes 2–4. Sheaths smooth, not inflated; collars smooth; ligules 1–4 mm, membranous, obtuse, lacerate. Cauline blades 5–10 cm long, 1.8–3 mm wide, lanceolate-linear, gray-green, involute; margins minutely serrate; abaxial surfaces glabrous; adaxial surfaces with deep furrows and prominent ridges, glabrous or minutely scabrid owing to the presence of regular rows of exceedingly fine sharp pointed hairs on the top of ridges. Panicle 4–6.7 cm long, erect, open or contracted, often purple-tinged; the lowest branches 0.8–2.8 cm; primary branches slightly scabrous, with spikelets scattered along the branches, branches without spikelets in lower quarter or even half. Spikelets 3.4–3.7 mm long, 1-flowered; glumes equal or slightly subequal, smooth or minutely scabrous on keel, acute at apex, the lower 3.4–3.7 mm long and 1–1.3 mm wide, 1-veined, the upper 3.25–3.5 mm long and 1.1–1.25 mm wide, 3-veined, 0.93–0.97 times as long as the lower glume; callus hairs 1.5–2.6 mm long, 0.6–0.8 times as long as the lemmas, surrounding the floret; lemma 2.7–3.3 mm long, 5-veined, 0.75–0.97 times as long as the lower glumes, 2(4)-toothed, with awn 2.3–3 mm long, well developed, slightly geniculate and twisted at the base, attached in the lower half (0.18–0.22) of the lemmas, not exerted beyond the glumes; palea 2.2–2.7 mm long, 0.7–0.8 times as long as the lemmas; rachilla prolongation 1.15–1.85 mm long, densely bearded with hairs 2.7–3.3 mm long. Anthers 1.6–2.3 mm long. Flowering in July and August.

Taxonomic notes: —Keng published Deyeuxia kokonorica Keng (1957) as a nomen nudum and later he provided a description ( Keng 1959), but in Chinese only, which therefore resulted in an invalid name. The Latin description was published by Tzvelev (1968), giving the name valid status.

Distribution: — CHINA (Gansu, Qinghai) ( Fig. 1 ).

Distribution notes: — Calamagrostis kokonorica was reported from Gansu and Qinghai provinces of China (Lu et al. 2006) and this study confirms its distribution in Qinghai (Delhi, Zadoi, Gonghe), and in Qilian Mountains of Gansu ( Fig. 1 ).

Habitat: — Calamagrostis kokonorica grows in alpine meadows, especially lakeside banks at elevations 3000– 4500 m (Lu et al. 2006).

Examined specimens: — CHINA. Gansu: Qilian Shan , s.d., Z.J. Yang 41 ( PE) ; Qilian Shan , 1957, Z.J. Cheng 46 ( PE) . Qinghai: Delhi, Tian’e Lake , [37°22’N, 97°22’E], 1960, S.X. Zheng 504 ( PE, 2 sheets) ; Zadoi, Angsai , 3850 m, in the shrubs on the slope, [32°54’N, 95°18’E], 21 August 1965, S.W. Liu 484 ( PE) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution map of Calamagrostis kokonorica (solid triangles), C. macilenta (open square), and C. salina (solid circles) in China.

FIGURE 2. Panicles within the Calamagrostis macilenta complex. A–C. C. salina. D–E. C. kokonorica. F–L. C. macilenta. Illustrations A–B from Sino-Russia Exped. 56 (PE), C from Qaidam Pendi Exped. 120 (PE), D–E from Liu 484 (PE), F–G from K. Wesche & H. Wehrden 1501 (GLM), H–J from Dawažamc et al. 1666 (GAT), K from Nejfeld & Krasnov s.n. (KRAM), L from Dawažamc et al. 1937 (GAT). Scale bar: A–L = 5 cm.

FIGURE 4. Scatter plot of two characters: the ratio of palea to lemma length against anther length, for Calamagrostis kokonorica (solid triangles), C. macilenta (open squares), and C. salina (solid circles).

FIGURE 6. Calamagrostis kokonorica. A. Glumes in side view. B. Floret in side view, showing well developed rachilla prolongation. C. Rachilla prolongation. D. Anthers. E. Collar region of the cauline leaf (second counted from the top of shoot). F. Upper leaf surface. Illustrations from Liu 484 (PE); China. Scale bar:A–F = 0.5 mm.