Acrospelion alpestre - Hill Bristle Grass

Hill Bristle Grass is a perennial, tufted grass. Stems are 18.6-31 cm x 0.2-0.8 cm, hairless, erect, smooth, hairless; 2-4 nodes, hairless. Leaf sheaths are 4-11 cm x 0.3-0.5 cm, smooth, sparsely hairy. Leaf blades are 6-21 cm x 0.3-0.4 cm, flat, inrolled in dried, greenish, sparsely velvet-hairy, tip tapering. Flower panicles are 5.5-12 x 1-2.5 cm, lax, narrowly oblong, very effuse, greenish-yellow, shining; basal node hairless; axis up to 2 cm, sparsely rough; branches semi-whorled at lower node, 0.7-1.5 cm. Spikelets are 0.5-1.7 x 0.1-0.3 cm, 2-4-floret, laterally compressed, stalk 0.4-0.7 cm, rough. Lower glume 3.1-4 mm, elliptic to oblong or lanceshaped, hairless, one-nerved, hyaline margins, tip pointed. Upper glumes are 4.6-5.8 mm, oval-lanceshaped, membranous, three-nerved, hairless, tip tapering. Lemmas are 4.5-5.5 mm, hairless, shining, narrowly to broadly lanceshaped, bifid, teeth prominent, awned; awn 4.5-8 mm, arising from upper 1/3 of lemmas; callus fringed with hairs. Paleas are 3.5-4.8 mm, narrowly elliptical hyaline, elliptic. Anthers are 2-2.5 mm, yellowish. Hill Bristle Grass is found in European Mountains, but recently (2025) it has also been reported from Western Himalayas, at altitudes of 2100-3700 m. Flowering: July-October.