长稃早熟禾 chang fu zao shu he

Poa alpigena subsp. staintonii Melderis in H. Hara et al., Enum. Fl. Pl. Nepal 1: 142. 1978; P. dolichachyra Keng ex P. C. Keng & G. Q. Song.

Plants green or purplish, not forming a turf. Culms 30–40 cm tall, nodes 2, uppermost node to 1/3 of way up. Leaf sheaths smooth, weakly keeled, uppermost 9–11 cm, several times longer than blade; blades folded, moderately papery to thickly papery, 3–7 cm × 2–3 mm, abaxially smooth, adaxially sparsely pubescent, of tillers 20–25 cm × 1–2 mm; ligules 1.5–3 mm, apex obtuse, abaxially smooth. Panicle open, 4–8 cm; branches spreading, 2 per node, proximally smooth, distally sparsely scabrid, longest 3–5 cm with spikelets clustered in distal 1/3, clusters somewhat pendent. Spikelets ovate, purple tinged, 4.5–6 mm, florets 2–4; glumes sparsely scabrid on keels, smooth or very sparsely scabrid on lateral veins, smooth between veins, lower glume ca. 3 mm, 1-veined, upper glume ca. 4 mm, 3-veined; lemmas 4–4.5 mm, keel villous for 2/3 of length, marginal veins for 1/2, intermediate veins glabrous; palea keels medially scabrid or pilulose. Anthers ca. 2 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Aug.

River banks in high mountain areas, waterside grassy slopes; 3400–3800 m. Qinghai, N Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Nepal].

This race is native to the Xizang-Qinghai Plateau. It has larger spikelets than Poa calliopsis, but seems intermediate to it in the possession of spikelets crowded near the somewhat pendent branch tips.