The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Festuca matthewsii subsp. matthewsii

Etymology

Festuca: From the Latin festuca 'stem' or 'blade of grass'
matthewsii: after Mathews

Common Name(s)

Matthews Fescue, blue Fescue

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Authority

Festuca matthewsii (Hack.) Cheeseman subsp. matthewsii

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Grasses

Synonyms

Festuca ovina subsp. matthewsii Hack.; Festuca ovina var. matthewsii (Hack.) Cheeseman; Festuca petriei Howarth; Festuca petriei f. petriei

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (east and west of Main Divide from Waiau River, Canterbury, to Fiordland, occasional in Marlborough).

Habitat

Montane to alpine in tussock grassland.

Features

Smooth soft to stiff green or glaucous tufted or occasionally shortly stoloniferous tussock with long wide-angled inflorescences of evidently awned florets held high above hexagonal leaf-blades from swollen collars. Branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath 30-110 mm, glabrous, keeled centrally, ridged elsewhere, much wider than leaf-blade, stramineous, margins becoming membranous; apical auricles 0.6-1.5 mm, rounded, shortly ciliate. Ligule as for auricles. Collar conspicuously thickened. Leaf-blade 100.0-300.0 × 0.5-0.8 mm, mostly hexagonal, ribbed, undersides glabrous except for scabrid tip rarely minutely scabrid elsewhere, upper surface and margins abundantly covered in short, white hairs. Culm 0.25-1.0 m, usually >> leaves, nodes black, lowermost often geniculate, internodes smooth, often slightly scabrid below inflorescence node. Panicle rather open, 70-200 mm, with 5-10 nodes, of 15-50 spikelets, branches pulvinata, flexible and widely divergent sometimes contracted, basal branches 20-100 mm solitary or occasionally binate, with 3-5 spikelets, naked below, branches becoming progressively shorter and uppermost 3-4 spikelets solitary on short pedicels; rachis, branches and pedicels prickle-toothed to sparsely so becoming smooth or almost so. Spikelets 9-20 × 3-5 mm wide, stramineous or sometimes bronze or slightly purpled, of 4-8 florets. Glumes unequal, keeled, centrally green to stramineous occasionally with purpled veins, triangular acute to obtuse, apex ciliate; lower 3-6 mm, l-nerved, upper 3.5-8.0 mm, 3-5-nerved. Lemma 5-9 mm, lobes 0 or very small, rounded on back becoming keeled above, prickle-teeth below on outer nerve and on margin, and above near awn; awn 1-4 mm. Palea 4.5-9.0 mm, frequently < lemma, long acute, deeply bifid, keels prickle-toothed to base or almost so, interkeel hairs mostly in upper 1/3, margins of flanks ciliate above sometimes to base. Callus 0.2-0.4 mm, centrally glabrous very shortly bearded laterally; articulation oblique to ± flat. Rachilla 1.0-1.6 mm, short stiff hairy. Lodicules 0.6-1.5 mm, greater than or equal to ovary, often lobed, frequently hair-tipped. Anthers 2-4 mm, yellow or yellow-purpled. Ovary 0.6-1.0 mm, hispid hairs at apex; stigma-styles 1.5-2.5 mm. Seed 3-4 mm.

Flowering

October - December

Flower Colours

Violet / Purple,Yellow

Fruiting

November - March

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from fresh seed and rooted pieces. An attractive grass tolerant of most conditions but dislikes humidity.

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 42

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Florets are dispersed by wind, water and attachment (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 25 Sep 2014