阿尔泰披碱草 a er tai pi jian cao

Replaced synonym: Elymus altaicus D. F. Cui, Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 10(3): 28. 1990, not Elymus altaicus A. Sprengel, Tent. Suppl. 5. 1828; Roegneria altaica L. B. Cai.

Culms erect, 50–75 cm tall, 3-noded, glabrous; nodes ± purplish. Leaf sheath purplish when young, yellowish brown when older, smooth, glabrous; ligule ca. 1 mm, membranous; leaf blade usually involute, 10–18 × 0.2–0.35 cm, abaxial surface smooth, adaxial surface scabrous. Spike dense, 8–9 cm; rachis smooth, margin ciliolate; internodes 7–9 mm. Spikelets 1 per node, purplish, subunilateral, 13–15 mm, with 3 or 4 florets; rachilla puberulent; internodes 2–3 mm. Glumes broadly lanceolate, subequal, 9–11 mm, 5-veined, margin broadly membranous, apex awnless. Lemma purplish, lanceolate, puberulent; first lemma 10–12 mm; callus puberulent; awn purplish, recurved, robust, 14–18 mm. Palea slightly shorter than or subequaling lemma, ciliolate along keels distally. Anthers yellow, ca. 2.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug.

* Forest understories along river valleys, mountain slopes. Xinjiang.