Stipa austroaltaica Kotukhov (1987: 1254)

Nobis, Marcin & Gudkova, Polina D., 2016, Taxonomic notes on feather grasses (Poaceae: Stipa) from eastern Kazakhstan with typification of seven names and one new combination, Phytotaxa 245 (1), pp. 31-42 : 33

3. Stipa austroaltaica Kotukhov (1987: 1254) . Type citation:— Altai Australis, jugu Azutau brachia orientalia in regione montis Mramornaja, 900–1000 m. s. m., declivitas occidentalis, prata substepposa variiherbosa, 4 IX 1984, Ju. Kotukhov (LE, isotypi—AA, LE)

Type (original label):—4.09.[197] 84 g., Stipa austroaltaica Kotuch. sp. nova, Yuzhnyi Altai, vostochnye otrogi khrebta Azutau, v raione g. Mramornaya, srednii poyas 900–1000 m. nad ur. m., zapadnyi mikrosklon, ostepnennye raznotravnye luga, Yu. Kotukhov (holotype LE!, isotypes LE! 4 sheets).

In the description of Stipa austroaltaica, Kotukhov (1987) stated that the type of the species (in the sense of holotype) is in LE and isotypes are in LE and AA. The original material cited in the protologue consists of five sheets from a single gathering preserved in LE, of which we consider one as holotype and the remaining four as isotypes. During revision in AA, we were not able to find the isotype of the species reportedly housed there.

Stipa austroaltaica is very close to S. capillata . Kotukhov (1987) distinguished this taxon from S. capillata by its shorter anthecia (7.5–8.2 vs. 10–13 mm long), shorter awns (8.1–9.6 vs. 11–20 cm long), and by sheaths of culm leaves shorter vs. longer than internodes. After revision of all specimens of S. austroaltaica from the type collections at LE, we found the variability in the length of these characters to be greater than described in the protologue. For example, the anthecium is 7.8–11 mm long and the awns are 8.5–10.3 cm long. In S. capillata , sheaths are generally longer than or equal to internodes; in our revision we also saw some specimens of S. capillata with sheaths somewhat shorter than internodes. Further investigations are needed to ascertain whether S. austroaltaica is distinct from S. capillata .