Piptatherum aequiglume (Duthie ex Hook. fil.) Roshev.

This species is close to Piptatherum munroi, but is rather more lush and grows in more mesophytic habitats. The difference in awn insertion, although a small difference, is reliable for separating the two species.

In juniper tracts and coniferous forests between 1300 and 3300 m. Var. fasciculatum differs from var. aequiglume by its fascicled spikelets and glumes distinctly longer than the lemma. In view of the latter character, care should be taken not to confuse it with Piptatherum munroi.

Perennial, loosely tufted from a short rhizome. Culms 60–130 cm tall, 3–5-noded. Leaf sheaths glabrous, scabrid; leaf blades linear, flat, up to 30 cm, 5–10 mm wide, abaxial surface scabrid, adaxial surface scaberulous; ligule rounded, 2–5(–13) mm. Panicle open at maturity, 10–25 cm; branches 3–5 per node, distant, ascending or widely spreading, longest up to 1/2 panicle length, scabrid, lower part bare. Spikelets gray-green; glumes narrowly lanceolate-oblong, (5–)5.5–9 mm, apex acute, occasionally mucronate; callus glabrous; lemma narrowly lanceolate, (4–)5.3–7.5 mm, equaling or slightly shorter than glumes, back pubescent with 0.15–0.3 mm hairs, glabrescent along midline at maturity, apex acute, smoothly extended into awn without constriction; awn tardily deciduous, 6–13 mm. Anthers 3–4 mm, bearded at apex. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep.

Loosely tufted perennial; culms 85-130 cm high, stout. Leaf-blades flat, up to 30 cm long, 5-7 mm wide, scaberulous on the upper surface, scabrid beneath. Panicle lax, 15-30 cm long, the branches spreading or ascending, the longest about half the length of the panicle. Spikelets lanceolate, 6.5-9 mm long; lemma lanceolate, 5-6.5 mm long, acute at the tip, covered (except at the tip) with dense hairs about 03 mm long; awn 8-11 mm long, long-exserted from the glumes, terminal, deciduous or subpersistent; anthers 3.5-4 mm long, their tips bearded.

Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [E Afghanistan, Bhutan, NW India, Kashmir, Pakistan].

Distribution: Pakistan (N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); eastern Afghanistan, along the Himalayas to China.

Fl. & Fr. Per.: July-August.

Damp rocky places in montane forests; 1800–2900 m.