A recent study proposed that Festuca ovina L. sensu lato (Poaceae) in Japan should be divided into two species, F. ovina sensu stricto and F. ruprechtii (Boiss.) V.I.Krecz. & Bobr., based on phylogenetic relationships and morphological characteristics. However, if the recognition of two distinct species is accepted, F. supina Schur (1866), which was treated as a synonym in this taxonomic treatment, is the correct name for the second species
because it has priority over F. ruprechtii (Boiss.) V.I.Krecz. & Bobr. (1934). In addition, the study treated F. ovina var. coreensis Honda and F. ovina subsp. ovina var. vulgaris Wallr. subvar. coreana St.-Yves. as heterotypic by designating a lectotype for the former. Notably, the designated lectotype of F. ovina var. coreensis Honda corresponds to the lectotype of F. ovina var. coreana (St.-Yves) St.-Yves subvar. taquetii St.-Yves, because both names are based on “F. ovina var. coreensis Hack.”
