Scientific Name:
Festuca ovina
Pronunciation:
fess-TEW-kuh oh-VYE-nuh
Common Name:
sheep fescue, fine fescue
Family Name:
Poaceae
Plant Type:
Herbaceous perennial, Poales (grass-like)
Key ID Features:
Erect habit, 10-30cm tall, rhizomes and stolons absent; leaf vernation folded, blades bluish-green or greyish-green, bristle-like, 0.5-1.5mm wide, sharply pointed, top prominently ridged; sheaths split densely pubescent, margins overlap, sometimes hairy reddish base; auricles absent; ligules <0.3mm.
Habit:
Spreading
Form:
Mounded
Texture:
Fine
Mature Height:
0.1 - 0.2m
Mature Spread:
0.1 - 0.3m
Origin:
Europe
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 2: (-46 to -40 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun
Soil/Growing Medium:
Rocky or gravelly or dry
Landscape Uses:
Golf green, Green roof technology
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Grass-like
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible, Parallel venation
Surfaces:
Glabrous
Colour in Summer:
Bluish, Green, Silver / Grayish
Shapes:
Filiform
Margins:
Inflorescence Type:
Spikelet
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
0
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Green-yellow
Flower Time at Peak:
May, Jun
Fruit Type:
Grain (caryopsis)
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
Jul, Aug
Additional Info:
4-6mm long; awns < 1.5mm long; lemma 4-5 x 1-1.5mm; usually short hairs along lemma margin and near apex; 1,200 grains per gram
Bark or Stem Colour:
Green
Maintenance:
Low
Pest Susceptibility:
(Drought tolerant)
