Bromus formosanus Honda

Endemic to the alpine region of Taiwan.

Perennials. Culms ascending, 30-40 cm tall, 1.5 mm wide. Leaf-blades chartaceous, linear, 15-24 cm long, 3-4 mm wide, sharp at apex, veins conspicuous, glabrous above, glabrous beneath. Sheath glabrous. Ligule membranous or chartaceous, triangular-shaped, rounded or acute at apex, 0.5 mm long. Inflorescence an open panicle, 8-15 cm long. Spikelets with 7-8 florets, lanceolate, 20-24 mm long, 6 mm wide, slightly laterally compressed. Pedicels minutely hispid to glabrous. Lower glumes chartaceous, strigose to glabrous, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, acute at apex, 9-11 mm long, 3-nerved. Upper glumes chartaceous, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, sharp to obtuse at apex, 11-12 mm long, 5-nerved, minutely strigose to glabrous. Florets 14-15 mm long, with rachilla. Lemmas chartaceous, lanceolate to elliptical, margins inrolled, rounded or acute at apex, 14-15 mm long, shorter than 20 mm, with a short awn less than the 1/2 length of lemma, 7 to 8-nerved, hairy, densely hirsute on marginal region of backside. Paleas membranous, linear oblong, round, truncate or acute at apex, 9-10 mm long, 2-nerved, ciliate on nerves. Callus glabrous. Anthers 2.5 mm long. Caryopsis oblong to linear-oblong, 8 mm long, hilum linear.

Perennial, with downwardly extending long rhizomes and dense, fibrous roots up to 20 cm deep. Culms 20–30 cm tall, ca. 1 mm in diam. Leaf sheaths persistent; leaf blades 10–20 cm × 3–5 mm, glabrous, apex acuminate; ligule ca. 0.5 mm. Panicle 10–12 cm, nearly racemose; branches paired, slender, bearing few spikelets. Spikelets elliptic-lanceolate, ca. 20 × 5–9 mm, purplish brown, florets 5–7; rachilla internodes exposed, 2–3 mm, loosely pubescent; glumes pubescent, apex acute, lower glume linear-lanceolate, 8–9 mm, 1-veined, upper glume 10–12 mm, 3-veined; lemmas long elliptic, 15(–18) × ca. 2 mm in side view, 7-veined, scabrid, margins densely pubescent, awned from apex; awn 3–7 mm, straight; palea ca. 9 mm, keels densely ciliate. Anthers ca. 2 mm. Fl. Jul–Aug, fr. Sep–Oct.

Taiwan.

* Alpine areas, rock crevices, cliffs, exposed rocks; 3500–3800 m.