Festuca pratensis

Festuca pratensis, the meadow fescue,[1] is a perennial species of grass, which is often used as an ornamental grass in gardens, and is also an important forage crop.

Meadow fescue
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Festuca
Species:
F. pratensis
Binomial name
Festuca pratensis
Synonyms

It grows in meadows, roadsides, old pastures, and riversides on moist, rich soils, especially on loamy and heavy soils.

It is a tall, tufted grass similar to the tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea. Tall fescue differs by having minute hairs on the auricles. It can hybridise with Lolium perenne and Lolium multiflorum.[2]

Description

It is a perennial bunchgrass, (i.e. grows in tufts), which grows 30–120 cm (12–47 in), flowering from June until August. The panicles are green to purplish. The spikelets have 5 to 14 flowers.

It has a short, blunt ligule compared to other grasses 1 mm high. The leaves are bright green and up to 4 mm across.[3]

  • Festuca pratensis
  • The base of the leaf
  • Festuca pratensis
  • Festuca pratensis

References
  • Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
  1. "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Collins Pocket Gude Grasses, Sedges, Rushes & Ferns Of Britain and Northern Europe, 1995, 0 00 219136 9
  3. Grasses by C E Hubbard, 1978, published by Penguin books
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