高山梯牧草 gao shan ti mu cao

Phleum commutatum Gaudin.

Perennial, shortly rhizomatous. Culms loosely tufted, erect or decumbent at base, 5–40(–60) cm tall, 3–4-noded. Leaf sheaths glabrous, upper slightly inflated; leaf blades broadly linear, 2–13 cm, 2–9 mm wide, the upper shorter than the lower, glabrous, apex acute; ligule 2–3 mm, obtuse. Panicle broadly cylindrical to ovoid, 1–6 × 0.6–1.2 cm, usually purplish; branches adnate to central axis. Spikelets oblong, 3–4 mm (excluding awns); rachilla extension absent; glumes oblong, membranous, scaberulous, lower softly hairy on margins, keel conspicuously pectinate-ciliate, apex truncate, cuspidate into a stiff, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous or ciliate awn; lemma ca. 2 mm, 5-veined, veins puberulent, apex truncate; anthers 1–1.5 mm. Caryopsis ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Oct. 2n = 14, 28.

Wet alpine meadows, damp soil around bushes, riversides; 2500–3900 m. Gansu, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Japan, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan; SW Asia, N Europe, North America, South America (Andes)].

This is a species of arctic and alpine regions of the N hemisphere, extending down the Andes in South America as far as Chile.