Gold fescue
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Gold fescue ( Festuca paniculata ) |
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| ( L. ) Schinz & Thell. |
The gold fescue ( Festuca paniculata ) is a grass belonging to the sweet grass family (Poaceae) and occurs among other things in alpine meadows of the Eastern Alps , the gold fescue lawn named after it. Some authors put it as Patzkea paniculata (L.) GHLoos in the genus Patzkea .
features
The gold fescue is a perennial grass and reaches heights of 50 to 120 cm. The plant grows densely and does not form runners. The leaf sheaths have an onion-like thickening at the base of the shoots. In the lower half, the leaf sheaths are fused and not grooved. The ligule on the upper stalk leaves are no more than 3 mm long. The leaves have a flat blade and are no more than 3 mm wide. On the outside of the spreading (the morphological underside) there is sklerenchymatic tissue.
The inflorescence is a rather dense, contracted panicle and is 8 to 12, rarely up to 15 cm long. The spikelets are 10 to 12 mm long and golden yellow, brown when the fruit ripens. The lemmas have five clearly protruding vascular bundles and are not awned . The ovary is bare. The flowering period is July and August.
The gold fescue is a diploid clan. The chromosome number is 2n = 14.
Taxonomy
Synonyms for Festuca paniculata are Festuca spadicea L. and Festuca aurea Lam.
Distribution and locations
The gold fescue occurs in Austria in Carinthia and East Tyrol, in Salzburg only in the Goldberg group, in Styria only on the Koralpe . There are other occurrences in South Tyrol . The species is absent in North Tyrol, as well as in Switzerland with the exception of southern Ticino . The gold fescue grows in the subalpine and alpine altitudes on sunny mountain meadows and on stony pastureland. He avoids lime.
Outside of the Eastern Alps, the gold fescue is found in the Southern Alps , in the mountains of southern and southeastern Europe and in North Africa (Morocco). In Slovenia it occurs only in the Karst on the Vremščica . In Southeastern Europe it occurs in the Balkan Mountains , Rila and Pirin Mountains and grows on steep, rather skeletal slopes of the lower alpine level.
Gold fescue meadows
In the Eastern Alps, the gold fescue forms its own plant community , the Hypochoerido uniflorae-Festucetum paniculatae Hartl in Theurillat 1989. The gold fescue lawn is part of the Festucion variae association (warm pristine meadows of the Silica Alps ) within the Festucetalia spadiceae (ground acid wild hay meadows). The only characteristic species is Festuca paniculata , dividing species are Dianthus barbatus and Knautia longifolia .
The meadows are found on the southern Tauern roof, on the Koralpe and in the Carnic Alps . The main area of distribution is in the subalpine area between 1800 and 2000 m, but the altitude distribution ranges from 1500 to 2500 m. There are species-rich wild hay mowers with an average of 45 species. The meadows grow on slopes with mostly 30 ° inclination (10 to 40 °), with an emphasis on south, south-west and south-east locations. The soil reaction is mostly acidic ( pH 3.5 to 5.6), but calcium carbonate is always present in the bedrock. The majority of the meadows have been mowed regularly, at least in the past, but individual areas have never been used.
The species set of the golden fescue meadows not only shows the connection to the Festucion, there are also several species of the Seslerietea , the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea , Vaccinio-Piceetea , Calluno-Ulicetea and the Festuco-Brometea .
The meadows occur on acidic to moderately acidic soils. The occurrence of lime and acid indicators goes back to the starvation due to the sometimes centuries of use. The meadows are quite diverse. The diversity is caused by the altitude, the bedrock, the mooring regime and the irrigation. Today, many meadows are no longer mowed, and very little is known about the resulting succession processes.
The gold fescue lawn is certainly an autochthonous, i.e. H. naturally occurring, permanent society, namely in locations of the subalpine level, which are too unfavorable for forests. In the past, deforestation and the beginning of mowing have resulted in the fescue grass spreading secondarily, especially on slopes that cattle avoid due to the steepness. Grazing is not tolerated by the gold fescue lawn, although the gold fescue itself is rather spurned by the cattle due to the stiff leaves.
Companies outside the Eastern Alps
The Centaureo-Festucetum spadiceae occurs in the Southern Alps, which has no floristic features in common with the Eastern Alpine gold fescue lawn. They have in common a high number of species, which is due to the calcium content of the acidic soil, the high proportion of hemicryptophytes and the lack of mosses. The soil of the southern Alpine society is deep, weakly acidic to neutral. It never occurs over pure crystalline or pure limestone rock. It grows on warm, dry slopes in the middle and lower subalpine altitudes.
The Genisto-Festucetum spadiceae grows on sandstone in Montenegro and Abruzzo , a Festuca spadicea-Chrysanthemum delarbrei association in the Massif Central , and the Hieracio-Festucetum spadiceae in the Pyrenees .
supporting documents
- Manfred A. Fischer , Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Patzkea paniculata. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved May 28, 2020.
- ^ Tropicos
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Helmut Hartl: Some east-alpine occurrences of the gold fescue lawn (Hypochoeris uniflora-Festucetum paniculatae HARTL) 1983 . In: Carinthia II , 173/93. Year, Klagenfurt 1983, pp. 43–54 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
- ↑ a b c d Georg Grabherr : Caricetea curvulae . In: Georg Grabherr, Ladislav Mucina: The Austrian Plant Societies . Part II: Natural forest-free vegetation . Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart 1993. ISBN 3-334-60452-7 , pp. 343-372, here 357f.
- ↑ Paul Ozenda: The vegetation of the Alps in the European mountain area . Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, New York 1988, ISBN 3-437-20394-0 , p. 260.
