Abstract
SummaryAiken, S. G. & Lefkovitch, L. P.: On the separation of two species within Festuca subg. Obtusae (Poaceae). — Taxon 42: 323–337. 1993. — ISSN 0040–0262.Festuca subg. Obtusae, a distinct group among Festuca in North America, contains two species: F. paradoxa Desv. and F. subverticillata (Pers.) E. B. Alexeev. The suggestion that the two may not be specifically distinct might be made because three characters traditionally used for separating them are more phenotypically plastic than previously recorded (inflorescence branch length, number of spikelets per branch, and spikelet width). However, where both species are sympatric they remain distinct. Evidence that they may occasionally hybridise is limited and inconclusive. An extensive statistical analysis has demonstrated that the shape of mature inflorescences, the arrangement of spikelets on inflorescence branches, the shape of the spikelets in bud, and often the length of the upper glume relative to the length of the first lemma, are characteristic of each species.
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