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Loliinae (Poaceae, Pooideae) encompass a large group of genera closely related to Festuca, the largest genus in the subtribe, which as traditionally circumscribed has been shown to be highly paraphyletic. In this investigation we combined molecular and morphological data representing 20 genera of Loliinae and closely related subtribes. Combined analysis of nucleotide sequences from the nuclear ITS and chloroplast trnL-F regions and structural characters recovered a consensus topology that shows Loliinae to be monophyletic and possessing two main clades-the fine-leaved Festuca clade that includes Ctenopsis, Micropyrum, Narduroides, Psilurus, Vulpia, and Wangenheimia, and the broad-leaved Festuca clade that includes Lolium and Micropyropsis. The presence of morphologically intermediate, unresolved, or poorly supported taxa (Castellia, Festuca subgen. Subulatae and subgen. Leucopoa p. p., and Festuca sect. Amphigenes p. p.) among the two groups points to a potential evolutionary trend from ancestral broad-leaved taxa to the more recently evolved fine-leaved taxa. Alternate classifications are evaluated for subtribes Loliinae, Cynosurinae, Dactylidinae, and Parapholiinae. We propose to maintain a paraphyletic Festuca as presently circumscribed and not to divide the polyphyletic Vulpia and Festuca infrageneric taxa until more phylogenetic data become available.

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The Iberian mountain spiny fescues are a reticulate group of five diploid grass taxa consisting of three parental species and two putative hybrids: F. × souliei (F. eskia × F. quadriflora) and F. × picoeuropeana (F. eskia × F. gautieri). Phenotypic and molecular studies were conducted with the aim of determining the taxonomic boundaries and genetic relationships of the five taxa and disentangling the origins of the two hybrids. Statistical analyses of 31 selected phenotypic traits were conducted on individuals from 159 populations and on nine type specimens. Molecular analyses of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were performed on 29 populations. The phenotypic analyses detected significant differences between the five taxa and demonstrated the overall intermediacy of the F. × picoeuropeana and F. × souliei between their respective parents. The RAPD analysis corroborated the genetic differentiation of F. eskia, F. gautieri and F. quadriflora and the intermediate nature of the two hybrids; however, they also detected genetic variation within F. × picoeuropeana. These results suggest distinct origins for F. × picoeuropeana in the Cantabrian and Pyrenean mountains, with the sporadic Pyrenean populations having potentially resulted from recent hybridizations and the stabilized Cantabrian ones from older events followed by potential displacements of the parents.