毛轴早熟禾 mao zhou zao shu he

Basionym: Poa pilipes Keng ex Shan Chen in Ma et al., Fl. Intramongol., ed. 2, 5: 594. 1994.

Culms 30–70 cm tall, slender and soft, nodes 3 or 4, usually with many tillers. Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, subequal to blade; blade very soft to quite firm, 5–15 cm; ligule of terminal leaf 0.5–1.5 mm. Panicle narrow, (7–)10–18 cm, basal primary branch 2–4 cm, erect. Spikelets 3.5–5 mm; rachilla pilulose; first lemma 3–5 mm; callus sparsely villose or glabrous; palea keels distally with prickles, proximally shortly hairy, middle and upper parts longer ciliate; shortly hairy between keels. Anthers 1.5–2 mm, yellow. Fl. Jun–Aug.

* Grassy places on slopes, alpine meadows; 2000–4200 m. Hebei, Nei Mongol, Sichuan.

Poa lapponica subsp. pilipes is very close to P. nemoralis, but differs in having a longer ligule, as in P. palustris. The type differs by its unusual palea, which is pubescent between the keels proximally and has short, soft hairs on the middle part of the keels. These characters of the palea do not appear to be constant among Chinese material and subsp. pilipes might be a modern hybrid. Its variation at population level needs more research.