Stipa krylovii Roshev. (Poaceae), a new record for the flora of Nepal

: Stipa krylovii is newly reported for the flora of Nepal, and this is the most southerly location yet found for this species. A full description of S. krylovii is included, along with illustrations, notes on its taxonomy and a distribution map.

The genus Stipa L. sensu lato is one of the largest genera of grasses and comprises about 680 species which are common or dominant in open grasslands and steppes.Although it is traditionally considered to have a cosmopolitan distribution with centres of diversity in warm temperate regions of Central Asia, Southern Europe, Australia and the Americas (Steudel 1854;Hitchcock 1951;Bor 1970;Freitag 1985), most researchers currently studying the tribe Stipeae Dumort.now consider Stipa to be an Old World genus with around 150 species (Roshevitz 1934;Tzvelev 1976;Martinovsky 1980;Wu & Phillips 2006;Hamasha et al. 2012;Romaschenko et al. 2012;Nobis et al. 2016a).
During a revision of the collections of feather grasses belonging to the section Leiostipa Dumort at AA, BM, B, E, FRU, GOET, K, KHOR, KRA, KRAM, KUN, LE, M, MSB, MW, P, PE, PR, TAD, TK, UPS, W, WA, WU we found duplicates of a Nepalese collection at E, K and BM (abbreviations according to Thiers [2016]), referable to Stipa krylovii Roshev., a species not previously recorded from the country.This collection had previously been determined as S. capillata.
The taxonomy and nomenclature of Stipa section Leio stipa Dumort. is complex as it consists of many apparently closely related groups, taxa which are hard to distinguish (Tzvelev 1974;Freitag 1985) and species with highly variable morphology.The species of this section are characterized by their scabrous awns, which are covered with very short, semiadherent bristles (up to 0.3 mm long).
Stipa krylovii is morphologically close to S. sareptana A.K. Becker and S. capillata, from both by the length of ligules of the vegetative leaves, the abaxial surfaces of the vegetative leaves and the indumentums of the lemma (Table 1), as well as its generally more northeastern pattern of distribution and different habitat preferences.Despite these differences, there are still conflicting opinions about its taxonomic status, since some authors treat it as a separate species (Roshevitz 1929(Roshevitz , 1934;;Grubov 1955;Keng 1941;Pazij 1968;Tzvelev 1976;Lomonosova 1990;Gudkova 2012;Nobis et al. 2016b), while others consider it to be a subspecies or variety within S. sareptana (Wu & Phillips 2006;Kuo & Sun 1987).
Stipa krylovii is a new record for the flora of Nepal and this is the most southerly station of this taxon.Although the collection of S. krylovii in Nepal was made in 1954 these specimens were misidentified as S. capillata.Stipa krylovii differs from S. capillata mainly by having a ring of hairs at the top of the lemma (Table 1).Stipa krylovii is also morphologically close to S. sareptana, but they differ in the surfaces of the leaf blades of their vegetative shoots which are glabrous or rarely somewhat scabrous in S. krylovii vs. scabrous with up to 0.25 mm long prickles in S. sareptana, and in the anthecium which has a well-developed ring of hairs at the apex in S. krylovii only.Furthermore, S. sareptana flowers earlier in the season than S. krylovii and S. capillata which flower and fruit at about the same time.More extensive fieldwork in Nepal and wider examination of existing material in herbaria will be necessary to gain a full understanding of the distribution of S. krylovii in Nepal.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Stipa krylovii.A. Specimen collected in Mustang, Nepal (E 00690623).B. Top of lemma (mh -macrohair).C. Pattern of hairiness on the adaxial surface of a blade from a vegetative shoot.