Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Poales Small
Family
Gramineae Juss.
Genus
Festuca L.
 Subordinate Taxa
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Festuca matthewsii (Hack.) Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl., ed. 2, 205-206 (1925)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Festuca ovina subsp. matthewsii Hack., Trans. New Zealand Inst. 35: 385 (1903)
  • ≡ Festuca ovina var. matthewsii (Hack.) Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl. 918 (1906)
  • = Festuca petriei Howarth, 48: 68 (1928)
Vernacular Name(s):
Alpine fescue tussock; Matthew's fescue
 Description

Glaucous upland tussocks with intravaginal branching. Leaf-sheath 3–15 cm, wider than leaf-blade. Leaf-blade 10–30 cm, hexagonal or nearly so, smooth or scabrid at thickened collar; T.S.: 5 vascular bundles, 7 sclerenchyma strands. Culm (10)–40–100 cm, much taller than leaves; nodes evident. Panicle (2.5)–7–20 cm, with open, pulvinate branches; rachis prickle-toothed. Spikelets 10–20 mm. Lemmas usually glabrous, glaucous; awn 1–2–(4) mm. Lodicules usually hair-tipped. Anthers yellow to purple. Ovary commonly with hispid apical hairs.

[From: Edgar and Connor (2000) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 5 (second printing).]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
Number of subspecific taxa in New Zealand within Festuca matthewsii (Hack.) Cheeseman
CategoryNumber
Indigenous (Endemic)4
Total4
 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1906: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Government Printer, Wellington.
Cheeseman, T.F. 1925: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
Häckel, E. 1903: On New Species of Grasses from New Zealand. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 35: 377–385.
Howarth, W.O. 1928: The genus Festuca in New Zealand. J.Linn.Soc.Lond. 48: 57–77.