Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 151, 239–258. With 22 figures © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 151, 239–258 239 FESTUCA INOPS AND F. GRACILIOR B. FOGGI ET AL . *Corresponding author. E-mail: msignorini@unifi.it Festuca inops and Festuca gracilior (Poaceae): are they two different species? BRUNO FOGGI 1 , M. ELENA GHERARDI 1 , M. ADELE SIGNORINI 1 *, GRAZIANO ROSSI 2 and PIERO BRUSCHI 1 1 Dipartimento di Biologia vegetale, Università degli studi di Firenze, via La Pira 4, I-50121 Firenze, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Ecologia del territorio e degli ambienti terrestri, Università degli studi di Pavia, via S. Epifanio, 14, 27100 Pavia, Italy Received September 2004; accepted for publication August 2005 According to current systematics, Festuca inops and F. gracilior are two distinct species. However, they are hardly distinguishable from each other on the basis of their morphological characters. Festuca inops is considered a diploid species endemic to Italy, while F. gracilior has a discontinuous distribution area, apparently related to chromosomal levels: diploid populations in Italy and south-east France, tetraploid populations in north-east Spain. The diploid populations of both taxa from Italy and south-east France are investigated in the present study. Nearly 1000 exs- iccata were examined and morphometric analysis was carried out on macro- and micromorphological features of 119 specimens (including type-specimens) and on 20 natural populations (including loci classici). All these data showed that the two species should be referred to a single taxon, for which the rank of species seems to be appropriate. This result is supported by karyological, ecological and chorological data and was confirmed by the results of ISSR anal- ysis. According to nomenclatural rules, the legitimate name for the species is Festuca inops De Not. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 151, 239–258. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: biosystematics – chromosome numbers – France – Italy – morphometric analysis – ISSR – type specimens. INTRODUCTION Since Hackel’s fundamental Monographia Festucarum Europaearum (Hackel, 1882), the systematics of the complex Festuca genus in Europe have advanced thanks to the efforts of many authors. Among these Saint-Yves (1909, 1913, 1930) and other festucologists belonging to the francophone biosystematic school such as de Litardière (1923, 1945), Bidault (1964, 1969), Auquier (1974, 1977), and Kerguélen (1975 1983, 1987) presented valuable regional information and methodological contributions. In addition, mono- graphs and general reviews were recently published by Wilkinson & Stace (1991), Kerguélen & Plonka (1989), Portal (1999), de la Fuente & Ortuñez (1998, on the section Festuca), de la Fuente, Ferrero & Ortuñez (2001), and Conert (1996). Unfortunately, with the exception of the latter, these studies were focused more on geographical regions than on natural groups of taxa, and involved investigations carried out within national political boundaries. This has led in some cases to abrupt interruptions in distribution areas of critical taxa, resulting from different inter- pretations of their systematic position in neighbouring countries. Other contributions (e.g. Al Bermani, Catalán & Stace, 1992; Foggi, Rossi & Signorini, 1999) have taken into consideration groups of closely related taxa as a whole and have been useful in clarifying the systematics of critical entities. The case of F. gracilior and F. inops is a good exam- ple of how taxonomic confusion can arise from studies based on a limited distribution area within national limits. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON F. INOPS AND F. GRACILIOR Festuca inops was originally described by De Notaris (1844) for Liguria, in north-west Italy. Hackel (1882) considered this taxon as a subvariety of F. ovina var.