Sesleria is a genus of perennial grasses in the family Poaceae, order Poales, comprising around 36 accepted species according to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The genus was established by the Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in his 1760 work Flora Carniolica, where it was placed on page 189. It is named in honour of Leonard Sesler (d. 1785), a German-Italian physician and botanist celebrated for maintaining an extensive botanical garden.
Members of the genus are tufted, cool-season grasses typically found in open, well-drained habitats across Europe and western Asia. The genus is distributed broadly across Eurasia and extends into North Africa, with species recorded from the British Isles and Iceland in the west to Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and the Transcaucasus in the east, and southward to Morocco and the Canary island group. Several species are characteristic of calcareous grasslands, rocky slopes, and subalpine meadows, where they often form dense tussocks.
Sesleria has a complex taxonomic history: numerous species formerly placed in the genus have been transferred to related genera including Koeleria, Poa, Festuca, Oreochloa, Sesleriella, Dactylis, Triodia, and several others. The genus belongs to the subfamily Pooideae within Poaceae. Notable species include Sesleria caerulea (blue moor-grass), a widespread indicator of calcareous grassland communities in Europe, and several Balkan endemics such as Sesleria nitida and Sesleria filifolia.
Etymology
The genus name Sesleria honours Leonard Sesler (d. 1785), a German-Italian doctor and botanist who was known for maintaining a large botanical garden. The name was bestowed by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli when he formally described the genus in Flora Carniolica (1760).
Distribution
Sesleria species are native to Eurasia and North Africa. The genus ranges widely across Europe — from Great Britain and Iceland in the northwest through Scandinavia, central Europe, the Mediterranean basin, and east to the Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria — with additional occurrences in Morocco.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was circumscribed by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in Flora Carniolica p. 189 (1760), with authorship abbreviated as Scop. The genus has a complex history: species formerly treated within Sesleria have been redistributed across more than a dozen genera, including Oreochloa, Sesleriella, Koeleria, Poa, Festuca, Dactylis, Triodia, Triraphis, Bouteloua, Aeluropus, Ammochloa, Elytrophorus, and Sclerochloa. Kew currently accepts 36 species; the GBIF backbone lists 55 descendants.
