First record of Festuca amethystina L. from the Transylvanian Basin (Romania)

Here we report the first find of a rare grass Festuca amethystina L. in the Transylvanian Basin. The species was found at Dealul Furcilor, a hill that is part of SCI Movilele de la Păucea near the city of Medias, in tall-forb vegetation classified as Trollio europaei-Clematidetum recti association. Using flow cytometry we detected tetraploid ploidy level of this population, corresponding to the ploidy of populations in middle altitudes of the Brasov Depression and contrasting with the diploid ploidy level of the high-montane populations in Eastern and Southern Carpathians. We show that sites of tetraploid populations share many species of dry-mesic steppe meadows and subcontinental open-canopy oak forests. Co-occurrence of F. amethystina and other species with disjunct distributions suggest relict character of this vegetation, probably representing remnants of ancient forest-steppe ecosystem.