高寒早熟禾 gao han zao shu he

Basionym: Poa festucoides N. R. Cui subsp. kunlunensis N. R. Cui, Acta Bot. Boreal.-Occid. Sin. 7(2): 97. 1987; P. indattenuata Keng ex P. C. Keng & G. Q. Song; P. koelzii Bor; P. rangkulensis Ovczinnikov & Czukavina; P. roemeri Bor; P. scabriculmis N. R. Cui ["scabristemmed"].

Culms 4–10(–20) cm tall. Leaf blades folded, short, 0.7–1(–1.5) mm wide; ligule 1–3 mm. Panicle dense, contracted, 1–2.5(–3) × 0.5–2 cm, branches mostly paired. Spikelets purple when old, never viviparous; rachilla glabrous; lemma laterally elliptic-oblong, keel and marginal veins proximally villous, areas between veins proximally densely shortly pubescent, apex obtuse; callus sparsely webbed or sometimes glabrous. 2n = 28.

Alpine grasslands; 4000–5200 m. Qinghai, Xinjiang, Xizang [Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Russia (S Siberia), Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia (Iran)].

The type of Poa festucoides subsp. kunlunensis has not been seen, but the protologue and illustration indicate that it belongs here and it therefore provides the earliest epithet at subspecific rank. Poa roemeri differs from P. albertii subsp. kunlunensis in having a loose panicle and thin, withering leaf blades. The two entities are connected by intermediate populations and differ in such negligible characters that P. roemeri cannot be recognized at any rank. The type of P. scabriculmis has also not been seen, but the protologue and illustration indicate that it cannot be separated from the other entities within this subspecies. The types of both P. indattenuata and P. rangkulensis look like type material of P. festucoides subsp. kunlunensis and do not differ from most gatherings so named.