光滑早熟禾 guang hua zao shu he

Poa bulbosa Linnaeus var. glabriflora Roshevitz, Fl. Turkmen. 1: 143. 1932; P. bactriana subsp. zaprjagajevii (Ovczinnikov) Tzvelev; P. glabriflora (Roshevitz) Roshevitz ex Ovczinnikov; P. scitula Bor; P. zaprjagajevii Ovczinnikov.

Culms (2–)8–40 cm. Leaf blade ca. 2 cm × 0.5–2 mm, surfaces scabrid, in tillers flat or folded with margins inrolled or not, elongated, narrower. Panicle oblong to lanceolate, fairly diffuse, 2.5–10 × 1–2 cm. Spikelets tawny, purple tinged, ca. 4 mm; vivipary commonly present, or absent (in Chinese material); glumes, lower glume ca. 1.5 mm, upper glume ca. 2 mm; lemmas 2–2.7 mm, keel and veins only slightly scabrid, otherwise glabrous.Anthers 0.6–1.2(–1.5) mm. Fl. and fr. May–Jul.

Middle and upper mountain zones, dry grassy places on slopes, stony and silty slopes; 2400–4000 m. ?Xinjiang, Xizang [Afghanistan, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia (Iran)].

The distinction between subsp. zaprjagajevii and subsp. glabri-flora is between plants from alpine habitats with distinctly purple, open panicles, sparsely scabrid branches with only a few spikelets (subsp. zaprjagajevii), and plants from middle mountains with pale green or pinkish violet tinged, loosely contracted panicles with several (often viviparous) spikelets (subsp. glabriflora). From the limited material seen we doubt the value of keeping them apart. Poa scitula Bor is an excellent match for subsp. zaprjagajevii.

Poa (sect. Arenariae) vvedenskyi Drobow was reported in FRPS (9(2): 224. 2002) from alpine grassy places at ca. 3000 m in Xinjiang, but no voucher has been seen by us and it is probably not present in China. Tzvelev (Zlaki SSSR, 451. 1976) wrote that P. vvedenskyi is endemic to the Uzbekistan Chulbair Range of the Gissar Mountains and adjacent Afghanistan as reported by Bor (in Rechinger, Fl. Iran. 70: 28. 1970). The report in FRPS from Xinjiang more likely represents P. bactriana subsp. glabriflora or (if separated) subsp. zaprjagajevii. Poa vveden-skyi can be distinguished from normal-flowered plants of P. bactriana by the pubescent lemmas, and from normal-flowered plants of P. bulbosa by having panicles sparse, with almost smooth branches, bearing 1–3 spikelets each; lemmas lanceolate, 3–5 mm, pinkish violet, apex gradually tapering, slightly pilose along veins proximally; spikelets always normal-flowered; alpine plants, 10–15 cm tall.