Family: Poaceae
red fescue
from USDA Plants website
Botanical Illustration
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium (UWSP)
Etymology: Festuca: ancient Latin name for some type of grass, obscure
Plants: perennial grass
Conservation Status: Introduced - naturalized
Plants: perennial grass
Conservation Status: Introduced - naturalized
Lawns, along trails and logging roads, roadsides, rocky beaches, clearings, edges of forests, gardens, disturbed soil, pine plantations, gravel pits, around springs, oak savannas, prairies, pavement cracks, road banks and roadcuts, barrens, rock outcrops, vacant lots. This species is interpreted to be a highly variable polyploid complex that ranges across Europe, Asia, and North America. While native subspecies do occur in the United States, it is believed that all of our material is introduced, no doubt representing escaped turf and pasture cultivars developed from European plants. First collected in 1935. The closed sheaths are most easily observed on the youngest green culms. Red fescue is sometimes rhizomatous, unlike the similar, cespitose F. saximontana and F. trachyphylla.
Flora of North America: Flora of North America Floristic Rating: Wetland Indicator = FAC- USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos Grasses of Iowa: Detailed photographs, descriptions, maps Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food
Alberta Government: "The identification of certain native and naturalized grasses by their vegetative characters", S.E. Clarke, J.A. Campbell and W. Shevkenek. 1950.
(Publication no. 762 ; Technical bulletin no. 50) Drawings, descriptions. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Images of seeds, fruits, embryos, etc.
Alberta Government: "The identification of certain native and naturalized grasses by their vegetative characters", S.E. Clarke, J.A. Campbell and W. Shevkenek. 1950.
(Publication no. 762 ; Technical bulletin no. 50) Drawings, descriptions. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Images of seeds, fruits, embryos, etc.
Botanical Illustration
Emmet J. Judziewicz
