Scientific Name:
Festuca longifolia
Pronunciation:
fess-TEW-kuh lawn-jih-FOE-lee-uh
Common Name:
hard fescue, fine fescue
Family Name:
Poaceae
Plant Type:
Poales (grass-like)
Key ID Features:
Bunch-type growth habit, +/-rhizomes, short stolons; leaf vernation folded, blades about 1m wide sharply pointed, bristle-like, top prominently ridged; auricles absent; ligule <0.6mm or absent; sheath split, margins overlap, sometimes hairy reddish base. Field ID terms: needle-like, wiry, narrow, bristly, round.
Habit:
Spreading
Form:
Creeping / Mat-like, Mounded
Texture:
Fine
Mature Height:
Mature Spread:
Origin:
Europe
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C)
Exposure:
Soil/Growing Medium:
Landscape Uses:
Golf green
Additional Info:
Google. Very similar to F. ovina var. duriuscula.
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Grass-like
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible, Parallel venation
Surfaces:
Glabrous
Shapes:
Linear
Apices:
Acute
Bases:
Sheathing
Margins:
Entire
Inflorescence Type:
Spikelet, Spike-like
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
0
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Dark-red, Brown
Flower Time at Peak:
May, Jun
Fruit Type:
Grain (caryopsis)
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
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:
Organ Modifications:
Rhizomes
