Festuca nigrescens Lam.

Posted byTrajche DimitrovskiPosted inPoaceae, Uncategorized

Taxonomy: Fam. Poaceae// Genus: Festuca// Species: Festuca nigrescens Lam.

Determined according to the botanical key provided by Markgraf-Dannenberg in Tutin et al. (1980) as Festuca nigrescens Lam., Encycl. Méth. Bot. 2: 460 (1788).

Lifeform: Perrenial; hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær system.

Distribution: Native to Temperate Eurasia, Northwest Africa according to the distribution information provided by the Plants of the World Online portal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Habitat: Mountain pastures. Recorded on Ponikva at c.1500 – 1550 m altitude.

Flowering period: Summer: JUN.

Festuca nigrescens– habit in habitat. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– habit in habitat. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panicle. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panice branches with spikelets. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panicle branches with spikelets. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panicle branches with spikelets. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panicle branches with spikelets. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panicle branches with spikelets. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panicle axis and branches. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– stem and leaf. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– stem, leaf sheath and lamina. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– lower part of stems and vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– lower part of stem and leaves of vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– leaves of vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– old sheath. Osogovo – Ponikva, 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– habit in habitat. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– habit in habitat. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– panicles. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– spikelets. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– lower part of stems. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– leaves of vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– leaves of vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– leaf sheaths of vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– leaf sheaths of vegetative shoots. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– sheaths of old leaves decaying into fibers. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– sheaths of old leaves decaying into fibers. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots are extravaginal. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots are extravaginal. Osogovo – Ponikva, 20.07.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– habit. Specimen from Osogovo – Ponikva, coIIected 22.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– habit. Specimen from Osogovo – Ponikva, collected 20.07.2025. Scale in cm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– habit. Specimen from Osogovo – Ponikva, collected 20.07.2025. Scale in cm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– Left: panicles. Scale in cm. Right: branches with spikelets. Scale in mm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– branches with spikelets. Scale in mm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– elements of spikelets. le- lemma; aw – awn of lemma; bl- back of lemma; pa- palea; lg- lower glume; up- upper glume; p– pedicel. Scale in mm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– elements of spikelets under magnification. le- lemma; aw – awn of lemma; pa- palea; lg- lower glume; up- upper glume. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– pedicel (p), panicle branch (pb), axis of panicle (ap) and upper part of stem (s) under magnification. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots. Scale in cm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots. Scale in cm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– vegetative shoots. Scale in cm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– leaves . Scale in mm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– cross section of leaf of vegetative shoot. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– cross section of leaf of vegetative shoot. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– cross section of leaf of vegetative shoot. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– cross section of leaf of vegetative shoot. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– cross section of leaf of vegetative shoot. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Festuca nigrescens– A, B and C: leaves of vegetative shoots. D, E, F and G: ligules of vegetative shoots. H: upper part of leaf sheath of vegetative shoot; I: lower part of leaf sheath of vegetative shoot. J: ligule of cauline leaf; K: lamina of cauline leaf; sheath of cauline leaf. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

References:

Festuca L. Markgraf-Dannenberg, I. in Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, N.A., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M. & Webb, D.A. (1980). Flora Europaea. Volume 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae (Monocotyledones). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 125 – 153.

Festuca nigrescens. Foggi, B. & Müller, J. 2009+: Festuca. – In: Valdés, B. & Scholz, H.; with contributions from Raab-Straube, E. von & Parolly, G. (2009+): Poaceae (pro parte majore). Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/67da3bd0-84c7-43fb-9e94-cc1271c4c712 [Accessed 29.07.2025].

Festuca nigrescens Lam. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:403162-1 [Accessed 29.07.2025].