凌风草 ling feng cao

Perennial, shortly rhizomatous. Culms loosely tufted, erect, 40–60 cm tall. Leaf sheaths smooth; leaf blades 4–15 cm × 4–5 mm, margins scabrid, otherwise smooth, apex subacute; ligule 0.5–1.5 mm, truncate. Panicle open, erect, ovate or pyramidal in outline, 4–18 cm, with many pendant spikelets; branches paired, obliquely ascending, sparingly branched; pedicels hairlike, longer than spikelets, flexuous. Spikelets broadly ovate, 4–6 × 5–7 mm, shining, purplish, florets 4–8; lower glume 2.5–3 mm, 1-veined, upper glume 3–3.5 mm, 3–5-veined; lemmas orbicular, lowest 3–4 mm, 7–9-veined; palea obovate, slightly shorter than lemma, keels glabrous. Anthers 1.5–2 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Sep. 2n = 14, 28.

Meadow slopes, grassy clearings in forests; 3600–3800 m. Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Kashmir, Nepal; SW Asia, Europe].