The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Festuca contracta

Etymology

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

Common Name(s)

Subantarctic Fescue

Current Conservation Status

2009 - At Risk - Naturally Uncommon

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

2004 - Range Restricted

Qualifiers

2009 - RR

Authority

Festuca contracta Kirk

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

FESCON

Structural Class

Grasses

Synonyms

Festuca erecta dUrv.

Distribution

Indigenous. In the New Zealand Botanical region known only from Macquarie Island. Also indigenous to Falkland, South Georgia, and the Kerguelen Islands and Tierra del Fuego.

Habitat

Coastal to upland (20 – 400 m a.s.l.). In grassland and amongst rocks, sometime son cliff faces.

Features

Tufted tussock with pale, flabellate intravaginal branches of many smooth leaf-blades often exceeding the compact, short, stiffly erect, branched purple suffused inflorescences of many few-flowered, compact spikelets with shortly prickle-toothed lemmas. Shoots dimorphic, narrow if vegetative, swollen if reproductive. Prophyll 40-50 mm, stramineous, pointed, keels antrorsely ciliate, interkeel antrorsely hairy> Branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath 50-100 mm, glabrous, stramineous, strongly nerved, margins membranous; apical auricles 0.4-0.5 mm, ciliate, symmetrical. Ligule as for auricles. Leaf-blade 120-250 × 0.8-1.0 mm, glaucous, glabrous, stiff, acute, terete or shallowly compressed-terete, adaxially and on margins bearing numerous short, white, antrorse hairs. Culm 120-400 mm long, nodes hidden, internodes finely antrorsely prickle-toothed and very shortly hairy, almost always hidden. Panicle 50-130 mm, narrow, compact, spiciform, with 13-15 nodes obscured by 20-50 spikelets; branches mostly binate, erect, stiff, very close-set, overlapping, > nearest internode, not naked below, basal branch appressed, 20-40 mm, of 5-7 spikelets, uppermost 5-7 solitary, on 1 mm pedicels; rachis, branches and pedicels margins shortly, densely prickle-toothed, elsewhere frequently bearing antrorse, fine hairs. Spikelets 9-12 × 1.5-1.8 mm, narrow, of 3 florets; glumes, lemmas, paleas purple suffused above; lemma included, awns exserted. Glumes ± equal, 8-11 mm, 3-nerved, upper prominently so, centrally green, prickle-teeth on keel and above, margin hyaline, finely ciliate. Lemma 7 mm, lobes small (0.25 mm), 5-nerved sometimes evident, abundant small uniform prickle-teeth present throughout; awn 1.5-2.5 mm. Palea 6.5-7.0 mm, much less than lemma, apex bifid (0.2-0.4 mm), ciliate; keels toothed ± to base, interkeel hairs to base, flanks shortly prickle-toothed in upper ½. Callus 0.1-0.2 mm long, shortly bearded near Rachilla; articulation flat. Rachilla 1.00-1.25 mm, shortly, stiffly hairy. Anthers 0.6-0.8 mm, purple. Ovary 1.00-1.25 mm, triangular turbinate, cap thickened, apex glabrous; stigma-styles 2-3 mm. stigmas sparingly branched. Seed 2.7-3.0 mm. Flowers cleistogamous.

Similar Taxa

Perhaps closest to F. coxii (Petrie) Hack from which it differs by its taller, erect growth habit, flabellate rather than elongate intravaginal branching; awns 1.5-2.5 mm and much less in length than lemma, rather than 6-13 mm and much greater in length than lemma,; anthers 0.6-0.8 mm rather than 3.75-4.25 mm long, and cleistogamous rather than chasmogamous (open) flowering habit.

Flowering

December-January

Fruiting

January-March

Propagation Technique

Unknown in cultivation in New Zealand

Threats

Not Threatened. Listed because in the New Zealand Botanical Region it is known only from Macquarie Island. It may now be udner threat there due to a recent explosion of rabbits following the successful eradication of cats. However, Macquarie Island is administered by Australia and so the conservation of its flora and fauna is under their control

Chromosome No.

2n = 42

Endemic Taxon

No

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