Poaceae

E. songarica (Schrenk) Roshev. in Fl. URSS 2:431 (1934). Syn: Glyceria songarica Schrenk, Enum. PL Nov. 1:1 (1841)! Nephelochloa songarica
(Schrenk) Griseb. in Ledeb., Fl. Ross. 4:367 (1852);Poa songarica (Schrenk) Boiss., Fl. Or. 5:611 (1884)! Poa persica Trin. var. oxyglumis Boiss., op. cit. 610 (1884); P. songarica (Schrenk) Boiss. var. argaea Hausskn. & Bornm. in sched., nom. nud.; Eremopoa persica (Trin.) Roshev. var. songarica (Schrenk) Bor, Grasses Burma, Ceylon, Ind. Pak. 532 (1960)! E. oxyglumis (Boiss.) Roshev. in Fl. URSS 2:430 (1934);E. altaica (Trin.) Roshev. subsp. oxyglumis (Boiss.) Tzvelev in Bot. Zhurn. 51:1104 (1966); E. altaica (Trin.) Roshev. subsp. songarica (Schrenk) Tzvelev, loc. cit. (1966); E. altaica sensu Litvinov in sched. non (Trin.) Roshev. (1934)! Figure 23. Map 90.
Annual, sometimes dwarf. Stems 2-35 cm, erect or ascending, smooth, glabrous; nodes included in leaf sheaths. Leaf blades 10-70 x 0.4-2 mm, scabrid on veins above. Panicle 2-14 x 1-6 cm; branches (l-)2-11 (-13) per whorl, ascending, greenish. Spikelets 3.5-6 mm, (l-)2-5-flowered. Lower glume 0.8-1.8 mm, upper glume 1.3-2.5 mm. Lemma 2-3.2 mm, pointed at apex; keel hairy only at base or glabrous, hairs (if present) 0.1-0.3 mm. Palea 2-2.6 mm, subequal to lemma. Anthers ovoid, 0.3-0.7(-0.9) mm. Fl. 5-8. Rocky slopes and montane pastures, 1150-3200 m.
Type: [USSR, C. Asia] in herbidis Songariae ad rivulum Tschulak, Karelin & Kiriloff 2123 (holo. LE, iso. BM! K!).
N., Inner & S. Anatolia. A4 Ankara: Karagöl, 64 km N. of Ankara, 1600 m, Coode & Jones 2172a! A5 Çorum: Bayat, Lapa Çay, 1800 m, Kilinç(ANK 6700)! A6 Sivas: Çamlibel, 1400 m, Bornm. 1890:2565! A7 Trabzon: Mery-emana, Deveboynu Y., Okatan (ISTE 47922)! A8 Rize: Cimil, 2000 m, Bal. 1866:1549! A9 Kars: nr Sarikamiş, 22 vi 1914, Litvinov (as E. altaica)! B5 Kayseri: mt. Argaei (Erciyas Da.), 2700-2900 m, Bornm. 1890:2564 (as var. argaea Hausskn. & Bornm.)!* B6 Sivas: Yildizeli, 1350 m, A. Baytop (ISTE 29652)! B7 Elaziğ: N. shore of Hazar G., 25 km S.E. of Elaziğ, 1150 m, It.
Leyd. 1959:1468! B8 Erzurum: S. of Erzurum nr Büyük Ejder Da., 2300 m, Holtz 00.944 et al.! B9 Van: Kavuşşahap Da., 2745 m, D. 23052! B10 Van: 30 km N.E. of Çaldiran, 2400 m, Sorger 81-12-22! C2 Antalya: above Elmali, Bourgeau 1860:271!* C3 Isparta: Dedegöl Da., 1500 m, Sorger 65-43-121! C4 Konya: Bozkir, 2200 m, Çetik& Yurdakulol64/153! C5 Niğde: Masmutli Dagh (Mazmili Da.), 2000 m, Siehe 1906:272! C8 Mardin: Savur, Zel 961! C9 Hakkari: Kara Da., 3200 m, D. 24434a! C10 Hakkari: Sat Da. between Varegöz and Sat G., 2300 m, D. 45607! ibid., above Yüksekova, 2700 m, Duncan & Tait 63!*
Caucasia, Iran, Afghanistan, C.Asia. Ir.-Tur. element. Very variable in size and in form of the panicle, from narrow and compact to broad and lax. The Litvinov specimen from Kars, labelled E. altaica, has a particularly lax panicle with few spikelets, approaching that of the C. Asian E. altaica (Trin.) Roshev., but the plant is much taller. A gathering from B9 Ağri: S.W. of Balik G., 2400 m, Sorger 83-36-11! also somewhat resembles E. altaica in its inflorescence.
E. oxyglumis (Boiss.) Roshev. has been regarded as a distinct species, differing in chromosome number (2n = 14: E. songarica has 2n = 28 — cf. Tzvelev & Grif in Bot. Zhurn. 50:1457-1460, 1965). However, the morphological characters used to separate it from E. songarica (hairiness of lemma keel, anther size etc.) break down completely not only in Turkey but in material studied from elsewhere in the species' range. Thus, despite the differences in chromosome number, the two taxa are united here.
Dwarf variants (marked with an asterisk) occur sporadically, usually on high mountains; they have been given the names Poa persica Trin. var. minor Boiss, and P. songarica Schrenk var. argaea Hausskn. & Bornm. but, since the dwarf specimens examined from Turkey do not otherwise closely resemble each other, var. minor is considered an artificial taxon unworthy of formal recognition.
A moribund specimen, collected in August from C2 Muğla (Çal Da., nr summit, 2174 m, Lambert & Thorp 579!) is close to E. attalica H. Scholz in appearance.