Festuca rubra

Sylvester, Steven P., Soreng, Robert J., Sylvester, Mitsy D. P. V., Mapaura, Anthony & Ralph Clark, Vincent, 2021, New records of alien and potentially invasive grass (Poaceae) species for southern Africa, Bothalia (a 1) 51 (2), pp. 1-9 : 4

Festuca rubra L., Sp. Pl. 1: 74 (1753). Festuca ovina var. rubra (L.) Sm., Engl. Fl. 1: 139 (1824). Festuca duriuscula var. rubra (L.) Alph. Wood, Amer. Bot. Fl. 2: 399 (1871), nom. illeg. hom. Type: SWEDEN [Hab. in Europa sterilibus siccis]. In paludosis prati regii Upsalia, sin coll. s.n. (lectotype, designated by Jarvis et al. 1987: 301: GB [not seen]) ( Figures 3 , 4 ).

Many heterotypic synonyms ( POWO 2020).

Distribution: Native range is sub-arctic and temperate Northern Hemisphere ( Figure 4 ). The native range of F. rubra s.l. is noted to extend into northern Africa by POWO (2020), although the subspecies or varieties of F. rubra described from high-elevation Morocco and Algeria have been re-assigned to other species of Festuca (Dobignard 2010) . Thus, it is unclear whether F. rubra occurs naturally, or has been introduced, in northern Africa: Dobignard and Chatelain (2010: 296) note ‘?’ for Morocco and the Madeira islands. Our collection from South Africa is therefore possibly the first verified specimen from the African continent. It does, however, occur on sub-Antarctic Marion Island (one of South Africa’s two islands in the Prince Edward Islands group), where it is recorded as a major invasive species ( Greve et al. 2017). Festuca rubra has also been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, and South and Central America ( POWO 2020, and references therein) where it has become naturalised, but is not considered invasive.

Figures

Figure 3. Festuca rubra; A, whole plant; B, lateral-tending rhizome covered in cataphylls; C, leaf sheath and junction with blade of a tiller showing strigose hairs;D, spikelet;E, base of palea with lemma removed to reveal the ovary and stamens; F,close-up of glabrous ovary apex. Images A and B of S.P. Sylvester et al. 3455 (US), C–F of S.P. Sylvester et al. 3455 (PRE).

Figure 4. Festuca rubra global distribution map, with country- or regional-level shading, taken and modified from POWO (2020).