A taxonomic comparison between tropical African and related European broad-leaved species of Festuca L. (Poaceae)

The four tropical African broad-leaved species Festuca africana, F. simensis, F. engleri and F. mekiste were analysed by morphological methods and compared to the European broad-leaved species F. altissima and F. gigantea. 31 qualitative and 31 quantitative morphological characters were measured and analysed by UPGMA, PCA, DA and box plots. F. africana and F. altissima were found to be morphologically clearly differentiated, whereas F. simensis and F. gigantea were quite close but distinct. As expected F. engleri was closely related to F. africana, and F. mekiste to F. simensis and F. gigantea. We confirm F. africana to be a good species in the genus Festuca and propose its inclusion into the subgenus Drymanthele, and F. simensis into the subgenus Schedonorus.