窄穗细柄茅 zhai sui xi bing mao

Perennial, tufted. Culms erect, 15–30 cm tall, ca. 1 mm in diam., 2-noded. Leaf blades setaceous, involute, 5–15 cm, abaxial surface smooth, prominently veined; ligule obtuse, 0.5–2 mm. Panicle contracted, 4–8(–10) × 1–1.5 cm, lowest branches without sheathing membranous bract; branches usually paired. Spikelets brownish mauve, usually purplish at base; glumes elliptic, (5–)6–7 mm, 3-veined, apex scabrid; lemma 4.5–6 mm, pilose below middle, shortly pubescent above, apex 2-toothed; awn (1–)1.5–1.7 cm, geniculate in a right angle, hairs longer on column, fewer toward apex; palea slightly shorter than lemma, 2-veined. Anthers ca. 1.2 mm, bearded at apex. Fl. and fr. Jul–Sep.

Alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes, floodlands, forests, under shrubs; 3200–4500 m. Xinjiang, Xizang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia].

This species is very close to Ptilagrostis concinna, but lacks a sheathing bract at the base of the panicle.