Washington Fescue

Description

Habit. Plants deep green (bright green), (60-)70-80(-100) cm high, densely tufted (but tufts breaking into individual tillers), tiller bases stiffly erect, bases not purplish (or rarely purple), horizontal rooting stems absent. Vegetative shoots arising outside, or breaking through the base of existing sheaths. Vegetative morphology. Sheaths glabrous or with trichomes (sometimes 0.4-0.7 mm long, fine and delicate, protruding at angles of 70-90 degrees from the sheath, older sheaths approaching scabrous), not conspicuous at the base of the plant, splitting between the veins or remaining entire, not conspicuously splitting between the veins (one some plants the sheaths are quite persistent and do shred, but do not become fibrillose and in F. rubra L.), closed more than half their length (young sheath observed to be closed almost to the collar). Collars glabrous, or villous (if villous, then similar to the leaf blade and sheath hairs). Auricles absent. Ligules 0.2-0.3(-0.5) mm long, ciliate. Leaf blades (13-)15-20(-35) cm long, erect, stiffish. Adaxial blade surfaces with trichomes (ca. 0.1 mm long), abaxial blade surfaces glabrous or with trichomes (scabrous on midvein and sclerenchyma strands, appearing shiny in fresh material). Leaf blades flat (when fresh) or plicate (after drying: both conditions illustrated by Alexeev 1982), 2-3 mm wide; 0.9-1 mm wide, 0.9-1 mm deep. Veins 7-9. Adaxial to abaxial sclerenchyma strands present (rarely), or absent (but commonly with sclerenchyma on the tops of the ribs adjacent to the main lateral bundles). Abaxial sclerenchyma well developed, in broad bands or continuous (some strands heavily thickened, others relatively narrow). Ribs 7 (well defined). Uppermost culm leaf sheaths somewhat inflated (usually). Flag leaf blades 8.5-17 cm long. Culm nodes becoming exposed, 1-2; internodes glabrous.