Scientific Name:
Festuca rubra
Pronunciation:
fess-TEW-kuh ROO-bruh
Common Name:
creeping red fescue
Family Name:
Poaceae
Plant Type:
Herbaceous perennial, Poales (grass-like)
Key ID Features:
Best mowed 5-8cm tall; bunching, thatchy, aggressive, to form low, dense mats or sod habit, rhizomes short, culms bent; leaf vernation folded but hard to see (bristle-like leaves), blade slightly folded, <2mm wide, deeply ridged on upper surface (heavily veined), tips rounded and not boat-shapes; auricles absent; ligule <0.3mm, truncate; sheath base reddish, round to very slightly compressed, wider than blade.
Habit:
Spreading
Form:
Creeping / Mat-like
Texture:
Fine
Mature Height:
< 0.1m
Mature Spread:
< 0.1m
Growth Rate:
Moderate
Origin:
Mexico, North America
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Well-drained
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:
Green, Blades purplish near collar.
Shapes:
Acicular
Apices:
Acute
Bases:
Sheathing
Margins:
Entire
Additional Info:
Leaves folded in the bud.
Inflorescence Type:
Spikelet, Panicle-like
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
0
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Red
Flower Time at Peak:
May, Jun
Additional Info:
Spikelets tightly packed with 10 to 20 florets alternately arranged along a common axis
Fruit Type:
Grain (caryopsis)
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
Jul, Aug
Additional Info:
4-6mm long; awns > 1.5mm long; lemma 4-6 x 1-1.5mm, smooth; rachilla slender, long, round with flared tip; 1,200 grains per gram
Bark or Stem Colour:
Green
Organ Modifications:
Rhizomes
Maintenance:
High
Pest Susceptibility:
(Pest resistant, Disease resistant, Deer resistant)
