垂枝早熟禾 chui zhi zao shu he

Basionym: Poa debilior Hitchcock, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 43: 93. 1930; P. declinata Keng ex L. Liu.

Annuals or short-lived perennials, slender tufted. Culms 20–60 cm tall, nodes 3–5. Leaf sheaths smooth or scabrid, uppermost 4–15 cm; ligule (0.5–)1.4–5 mm. Panicle 7–20 cm, longest internode 2–5 cm; longest branches 2–8 cm. Florets 2–3(–5); lemma keel and marginal veins usually partly hairy (at least in lower florets), apex acute; callus glabrous or scantily webbed (at least in basal florets). Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug.

* Shady moist places in ravines, streamsides on mountain slopes, thickets, subalpine meadows, grassy slopes; (2000–)4500 m. Gansu, Hebei, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, NW Sichuan, Yunnan.

Plants included here have at least some hairs on the lemma keels and are generally spindly in habit. The type of Poa declinata is tenta-tively placed here. It has somewhat longer-than-average lemmas with denser pubescence on the keels, more crowded spikelets, slightly thicker roots, and longer anthers. It seems to be transitional between P. szechuensis and P. nepalensis or P. khasiana.