Poa sinaica subsp. sinaica var. sinaica subsp. sinaica var. sinaica

11.3.4Poa sinaica subsp. sinaica var. sinaica Fig. 8 A – G = Poa sinaica var. aegyptica Schweinf. ex Sickenb., Mém. Inst. Égypt. 4 (2): 310 (taxon no. 1225). 1901. Type protologue. D. a. {Desert Arabia}, Galala du Sud {Egypt}, Schweinfurth. Type. Galala, 1050 …, in desertis Aegypticis, parte Arabica, 24 May 1876, Schweinfurth 278 (lectotype, here designated: G-BOIS [G 00785871]; isolectotype: K [K 003128449; rjs rjsr 5826. jpg, bottom half of sheet]). Note. Original Schweinfurth material at B was presumably destroyed; “ glumis dorso vix scabridis, glumella ad nervos dense ciliate ”. Feinbrun (1940) considered this to be synonymous with P. sinaica var. sinaica. It is possible Feinbrun saw type material before WWII. The lectotype selected is typical P. sinaica. Description. Perennials; hermaphroditic; tufted, without rhizomes or stolons, basal tufts 2–9 (– 12) cm tall, dense, usually forming small tufts of bulbs, greyish-green, often violaceous in part; tillers intravaginal, bulbous at the base; prophylls often long exerted from basal sheaths, keels all or mostly antrorsely scaberulous and smooth in part. Culms (5 –) 9–31 (– 50), av. 21 cm tall, erect or geniculately ascending, terete, internodes smooth, glabrous, 1 (– 2) nodes exerted, uppermost node at ca 1 / 3 plant height. Leaves mostly basal, culm leaves few to several; leaf sheaths of culms weakly compressed, smooth throughout or keel scabrous, sometimes scabrous on the sides near the collar, glabrous; basal sheaths (0.5 –) 1–2 (– 3) cm long, strongly imbricated at base, forming bulbs; bulbs sub-pyriform to fusiform, slender, outer sheaths papery to subcoriaceous, strongly veined, veins coarse, smooth or usually scabrous along the keel), glabrous, persisting as a dry tunic innermost basal sheaths thickened, indurate at the base for (3 –) 4–6 (– 10) mm; flag-leaf sheath 3–10 (– 12) cm long, margins fused 14–22 % their length, smooth or scabrous, glabrous; throats and collars smooth or scabrous in the margins, glabrous; ligules of upper blades 3–9 mm long, scarious-hyaline to whitish, abaxially sparsely to moderately scabrous, glabrous, apices acute to acuminate, entire or shallowly dentate, or lacerate; ligules of sterile shoots 1.5–6 mm, narrowly to somewhat broadly decurrent (without inflated cells at collar margins), longer than wide, apices acute to acuminate, entire or tri-dentate to lacerate, abaxially (smooth) sparely to moderately scabrous; blades of culm 1–2 (– 3) mm wide, subequal or those of the culm gradually reduced in length upward, filiform or usually broader, folded (rarely flat), moderately thin, soft, usually retaining their shape in age, abaxially scabrous along the prominent veins, adaxially sparsely to moderately scabrous, margins densely scabrous, glabrous throughout, apices narrowly prow-tipped, scabrous; flag-leaf blades 1–3.5 (– 7) cm long, av. 2 / 7 the length of its sheath; blades of sterile shoots (1 –) 2–9 (– 12) cm long, (0.3) 1–2 (– 2.3) mm wide, usually retaining their form in age. Panicles (1.5 –) 2.3–8 (– 9) cm long, 0.5–1.5 (– 4) cm wide, erect, lanceolate, contacted (to subpyramidal in anthesis), crowded or slightly loose, with 10–50 (– 100) spikelets; peduncles well exerted at maturity, smooth; axis with 1–3 (– 5) branches at lowest node; primary branches 0.5–2.5, av. 1.2 cm, with 3–10 (– 25) spikelets in the distal 1 / 3–1 / 2, steeply ascending, terete to weakly angled, fairly stiff, sparsely to strongly scabrous; lateral pedicels mostly <1 mm long. Spikelets 3.5–5.5 (– 7) mm long, narrowly ovate to lanceolate, usually compact, laterally compressed, pale greenish, sometimes violaceous in part; not bulbiferous, florets (2 –) 3–5 (– 8); rachilla internodes mostly 0.3–0.7 mm long, muriculate, glabrous; glumes unequal to subequal, lanceolate to ovate, distinctly keeled, keels distally moderately scabrous, edges mostly moderately scaberulous, apices acute to narrowly acute; lower glumes 1.8–3.2 mm long, (1 –) 3 - veined; upper glumes 2.2–3.6 mm long, 3 - veined, lanceolate to narrowly ovate; callus glabrous; lemmas (2.5 –) 3–4.4 mm long, 3–5 - veined, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, pale green or commonly violaceous, not lustrous, distinctly keeled, keel and marginal veins sericate to short villous, (longer hairs 0.25–0.5 mm long, tips blunt to pointed), between veins smooth or distally sparsely scabrous, glabrous, or crisply appressed sericate, rarely glabrous throughout (var. glabrescens), intermediate veins faint or absent, margins inrolled below, distally scarious / hyaline, edges lightly to moderately scaberulous, apices acute to acuminate, pointed; palea keels scaberulous to scabrous, medially sometimes short sericate, between keels smooth, glabrous. Flowers bisexual; lodicules 0.5 mm long, lanceolate, laterally lobed; anthers 1.4–2 mm long. Caryopses 1.7 mm long, weakly compressed, broadly sulcate, adherent to the palea; hilum 0.2 mm, elliptical. 2 n = 14, 28, 42, 56 (all unconfirmed to species or infraspecies). Clade code: Aa. Distribution and ecology. Afghanistan, Armenia, Egypt, India (NW), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Libya (doubtful), Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transcaucasia (southern), Turkey, and Turkmenistan (Kopetdağ). Semiarid habitats, desert slopes to high steppe grasslands; in Turkey, 220–2,300 m. Conservation status. None. Comments. This taxon is widely reported in Southwest Asia. Soreng et al. 8228 - a may be a cross brtween Poa bulbosa × sinaica; lemmas are 3.5–4 mm long, with rather stiff, short hairs; the web is scant, short, and sometimes absent (Bor 1968 plate 40, 1970 Tab. 11). Fig. 3 M, N, O illustrates the basal shoot, prophyll and ligule. Fig. 8 A, B, C, D, G illustrates the normal-flowered plant. Representative specimens. Turkey. Bitlis (Adilcevaz, 2,100 m, Behçet B 815 p. p. a & b VANF). Bolu (Soreng et al. 8111). Bursa (Soreng et JI Davis 4046). Erzurum (Soreng et Cabi 8983). Gümüşhane (Henderson et Stainton 5029 E, K). Hatay (Kehl K 89 / 2205 -10 B). Isparta (Soreng et al. 8228 - a {× P. bulbosa?,). Kayseri (Soreng et al. 8129, 8130 - b). Kırklareli (Soreng et al. 9026). Konya (Davis and Dodds 18704 K; Soreng et Cabi 9249 *, 9257 - a). Malatya (Soreng et Cabi 9206 - a). Muğla (Gillespie et al. 10591 *). Nevşehir (Nesbitt and Samuel 4698 K). Niğde (Schwendiman USDA-SCS 30 / PI-383732 K; Soreng et al. 8153 - a, 8172). Yozgat (Coode et Jones 2013 E).