Vulpia bromoides (L.) S.F. Gray

Locations ofVulpia bromoides (L.) S.F. Gray in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Poaceae
Botanical Name
Vulpia bromoides (L.) S.F. Gray
Common Name
European Squirrel-tail Fescue, Brome Fescue
Synonym(s)
Festuca dertonensis (All.) Aeshcers & Graebner; Festuca bromoides L.
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Festuca bromoides L.
Comments
Sometimes included in Festuca, as by Flora of the Southeastern U.S. and Flora of Virginia. However, according to Darbyshire and Pavlick (in FNA 24), the taxonomy of Festuca is complex, problematic, and not yet definitive. The phylogenetic relationships between Vulpia, with thirty species world-wide, and various clades of the highly variable Festuca seem unresolved; and Lonord (in FNA 24) points out that Vulpia consists mostly of cleistogamous annuals with one anther per floret while Festuca consists of chasmogamous species with three anthers per floret. Moreover, Vulpia forms sterile hybrids with both Festuca and Lolium. Until greater clarity is attained by future studies, we here retain Vulpia based on the morphological evidence that it forms a distinctive evolutionary lineage.
Habitat
Collected in sandy waste ground, clearings, and dune scrub on Wallops Island, Accomack County; reported in Castanea 51, 1986). Rare, outer Coastal Plain.
Native Status
Introduced

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