Festuca luciarum

{{Short description|Species of grass in New Zealand}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Festuca luciarum Connor (AM AK200090).jpg

| image_caption = Holotype from the Auckland War Memorial Museum Herbarium

| taxon = Festuca luciarum

| authority = Connor

| status = NU

| status_system = NZTCS

| status_ref = {{cite web|url=https://nztcs.org.nz/nztcs-species/7673 |title=Festuca luciarum Connor |website=New Zealand Threat Classification System |access-date=6 September 2024}}

| synonyms =

}}

Festuca luciarum is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand, found in the eastern North Island at higher altitudes.

Taxonomy and naming

File:Lucy Moore and Lucy Cranwell at Maungapohatu.jpg and Lucy Moore on their field trip to Maungapohatu in 1932]]

The species was first formally described in 1998 by Henry Connor, based on specimens collected by botanists Lucy Cranwell and Lucy Moore from Maungapohatu in Te Urewera in 1932.{{citeQ|Q130242302}}{{cite web|url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collection/object/am_naturalsciences-object-363452 |title=Festuca luciarum |website=Auckland War Memorial Museum |access-date=6 September 2024}} Connor named the species after both Cranwell and Moore.{{citeQ|Q124313556}}

The species is closely related to the species Festuca coxii, Festuca multinodis and Festuca ultramafica, which form the Neozeylandic clade II of Loliinae grasses.{{citeQ|Q130242398}}{{citeQ|Q48075292}}

Description

F. luciarum is a tall stoloniferous grass with long shoots that have dark violet inflorescences. There are morphological differences between different members based on which geographically separated area they are found in.

Habitat and range

The species is endemic to New Zealand,{{cite web|url=https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/codium-cranwelliae/ |title=Codium cranwelliae |website=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network |access-date=5 September 2024}} found in the inland areas of the eastern North Island, at an elevation of between {{cvt|900-1500|m}}.

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References