Deschampsia sukatschewii

(Popl.) Roshev.
Common names: Deschampsie naine
Synonyms: Deschampsia brevifolia var. pumila Deschampsia borealis Deschampsia arctica var. pumila
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 629.
Please click on the illustration for a higher resolution version.
Illustrator: Cindy Roché

Copyright: Utah State University

Plants perennial; usually densely cespitose. Culms 5-70 cm, erect or strongly geniculate at the first node, glabrous. Leaves mostly basal, sometimes forming a dense, moss-like tuft 5-20 cm in diameter; sheaths smooth, glabrous; ligules 1.5-8 mm, acute; blades 0.5-8 cm long, usually strongly rolled and 0.5-1.3 mm in diameter, rarely flat and to 1.5 (2) mm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth, adaxial surfaces with 3-5 (6) ribs, ribs smooth, the outer ribs sometimes scabrous. Panicles 3.5-17 cm long, 1.5-9 cm wide, usually open and pyramidal, sometimes closed and ovate; branches 0.5-6 cm, spreading to reflexed, flexuous, smooth. Spikelets 3.5-5.2 mm, shiny, purplish, with 2 (3) florets. Glumes lanceolate, sometimes purplish over the proximal 1/2, acute to acuminate; lower glumes 2.7-4.8 mm, 0.8-0.9 times the length of the spikelets, 1-3-veined, veins smooth; upper glumes 3-5 mm, equaling or exceeding the lowest floret, 1-5-veined; callus hairs 0.3-1 mm; lemmas 2-4 mm, smooth, shiny, glabrous, sometimes purplish distally, apices rounded or truncate, erose, awns 0.8-2.5 mm, arising at or below midlength, straight, slender, only slightly or not exserted; anthers 0.7-2.5 mm. 2n = 26, 28, 36, ca. 39.

Discussion

Deschampsia sukatschewii is a circumboreal species that extends from northern Russia through Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland to Svalbard, and southward in the Rocky Mountains to Nevada and Utah. It ranges from short plants that form dense, mossy tufts on the Arctic coast to larger plants in subalpine and alpine habitats of the Rocky Mountains that have frequently been included in D. cespitosa.

Arctic taxonomists recognize two subspecies of Deschampsia sukatschewii in arctic North America: the amphiberingian subsp. orientalis (Hulten) Tzvelev that extends to the northern coast of Alaska and the western Northwest Territories; and subsp. borealis (Trautv.) Tzvelev, which is circumpolar in the arctic. Chiapella and Probatova (2003) treated these two subspecies, and subsp. sukatschewii, as subspecies of D. cespitosa. Efforts to circumscribe infraspecific taxa of D. sukatschewii for this treatment failed.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number."-0.9timesthelengthof" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Deschampsia sukatschewii"
39 +, 36 +, 28 +  and 26 +
membranous +  and scarious +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
rounded +
Mary E. Barkworth +
(Popl.) Roshev. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
straight +
attached +
exserted +
geniculate +
slender +
0.08 cm0.8 mm <br />8.0e-4 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
not evident +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
spreading;reflexed +
spikelike +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
Deschampsie naine +
geniculate +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (70 cm700 mm <br />0.7 m <br />) +
not woody +
Conn. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.Mex. +, Wash. +, Va. +, Del. +, D.C +, Wis. +, Alaska +, Ala. +, Ark. +, Calif. +, Ga. +, Mass. +, Md. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, N.C. +, N.Dak. +, N.H. +, Ohio +, Okla. +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.C. +, Tenn. +, Vt. +, W.Va. +, Pacific Islands (Hawaii) +, Maine +, Wyo. +, Nev. +, Colo. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Ariz. +, Idaho +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Greenland +, Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. +, N.S. +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Ont. +, P.E.I. +, Que. +, Sask. +, Yukon +, Utah +, S.Dak. +, Mont. +, Ky. +  and Oreg. +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
sometimes longer +
viviparous +  and bisexual +
compressed +
reduced +
3-veined +  and 1-veined +
shorter or longer +
subtending +
acute +  and acuminate +
subequal +  and unequal +
uncinate +
(3)5-7-veined +
rounded +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +  and ovatelanceolate +
0.27 cm2.7 mm <br />0.0027 m <br /> (0.48 cm4.8 mm <br />0.0048 m <br />) +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
well-developed +
2-keeled +
3.5cm +  and 17cm +
ovate +  and pyramidal +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
3 +  and 5 +
1 +  and 60 +
compressed +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.52 cm5.2 mm <br />0.0052 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Deschampsia brevifolia var. pumila +, Deschampsia borealis +  and Deschampsia arctica var. pumila +
Deschampsia sukatschewii +
Deschampsia +
species +
membranous +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
exceeding the lowest floret +  and equaling +
parallel +  and converging +
stoloniferous +  and rhizomatous +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +