Rough Fescue

Description

General: Grass family (Poaceae). Rough fescue is a native, perennial, cool-season bunchgrass. Individual rough fescue plants often form large-diameter bunches averaging 12 - 14 inches in diameter, sometimes as large as 2 feet. Festuca campestris culms are erect, 1 to 4.5 ft. tall, glabrous, scabrous, naked below the panicle, and purplish at the base. Leaves are basal 12-30 inches long, 0.03-0.08 inches in diameter, folded, mostly erect, stiff, and pointed. Lower surface of the leaves are often scabrous. Sheaths are closed for less than 1/3 their length and are often persistent. Inflorescences are panicles, generally 3.5-7 inches long, open or loosely contracted, with usually 2 branches per node. The branches are erect to stiffly spreading. Spikelets are 0.3-0.5 inches long and have 3-7 florets. Glumes are exceeded by the upper most florets. Lemmas are 0.25-0.40 inches long with either a sharp point or short awn ( Anderton and Barkworth 2009, Stubbendieck, Hatch, and Landholt 2003). In the fall mountain rough fescue often has a creamy colored appearance when compared with bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoregneria spicata).