Scientific Name:
Festuca arundinacea
Pronunciation:
fess-TEW-kuh uh-run-dih-NAY-see-uh
Common Name:
tall fescue
Family Name:
Poaceae
Plant Type:
Herbaceous perennial, Poales (grass-like)
Key ID Features:
Habit bunching (tufted), +/- short rhizomes; leaf vernation rolled, blade flat and stiff, sharply pointed blade 3-12mm wide, strongly veined upper surface, strong midrib, lower surface keeled and slightly glossy, rough edges, sharp tip, auricles very small (or absent), rounded, pubescent (few trichomes on collar), ligule mostly 0.4-1.2mm, smooth edged, with few trichomes; sheath round but keeled near top, glabrous, often reddish at base. Field ID terms: wide, stiff, ridges, rolled.
Habit:
Spreading
Form:
Creeping / Mat-like, Mounded
Texture:
Fine
Mature Height:
Mature Spread:
Origin:
Europe
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun
Soil/Growing Medium:
Landscape Uses:
Golf green, Lawn - sports field
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Grass-like
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Surfaces:
Colour in Summer:
Dark-green
Shapes:
Linear
Apices:
Aristate
Bases:
Sheathing
Margins:
Ciliate
Additional Info:
Leaves roilled in the bud.
Inflorescence Type:
Spikelet, Panicle-like
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
0
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Green-yellow
Flower Time at Peak:
May
Additional Info:
Spikelet with 6 to 8 florets; spikelets arranged in narrowly pyramidal panicle.
Fruit Type:
Grain (caryopsis)
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
Additional Info:
6-9mm long; lemma square at apex; awns absent; rachilla cylindrical and slender with a bulged, rounded tip; 500 grains per gram
Bark or Stem Colour:
Organ Modifications:
Rhizomes
Pest Susceptibility:
Fungal leaf spot, Rust
