Festuca rubra subsp. rubra

Common names: Red fescue Fetuque rouge tracante
Introduced
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 418.
Revision as of 02:09, 30 July 2020 by imported>Volume Importer
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Please click on the illustration for a higher resolution version.
Illustrator: Cindy Roché

Copyright: Utah State University

Plants rhizomatous, usually loosely cespitose, with several culms arising from the same tuft, vegetative shoots 8-22 (30) cm. Culms (20) 40-90 cm. Sheaths reddish-brown, scarious, pubescent, shredding into fibers; blades 0.5-2 mm in diameter, usually conduplicate, sometimes flat, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabrous, green or glaucous, adaxial surfaces scabrous or pubescent on the ribs; abaxial sclerenchyma in 5-7 (9) small strands; adaxial sclerenchyma rarely present. Inflorescences 7-12 cm, open, lanceolate; branches scabrous. Spikelets 9-14.5 mm, with 5-8 florets. Lower glumes 3-4.5 mm; upper glumes 4-6.4 mm; lemmas (4) 6-7.5 (8) mm, lanceolate, usually green with red-violet borders, sometimes mostly red-violet, margins sometimes scabrous, apices scabrous, acute to acuminate, awned, awns 0.6-3.2 (4) mm; anthers 2.4-3.5 mm. 2n = 42.

Discussion

Festuca rubra subsp. rubra grows in disturbed soil. It is often planted as a soil binder, or as turf or forage grass, in mesic temperate parts of the Flora region. Originally from Eurasia, it has been widely introduced elsewhere in the world, including most of the Flora region, from southern Alaska east to Newfoundland and Greenland and south to California and Georgia. It also grows in Mexico. Because F. rubra subsp. rubra has often been misunderstood, confounded, and lumped with other taxa of the F. rubra complex, statements about its distribution, including that given here, should be treated with caution. It is to be expected throughout the Flora region, in all but the coldest and driest habitats.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"wider than long" is not a number."decumbent" is not a number."longest" is not a number.

pubescent +, scabrous +  and glabrous +
membranous +  and scarious +
pubescent +, scabrous +  and glaucous +
0.24 cm2.4 mm <br />0.0024 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
hispidulous +
acute +  and acuminate +
Stephen J. Darbyshire +  and Leon E. Pavlickf +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (?) +
straight +
basal +  and terminal +
0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br /> (0.32 cm3.2 mm <br />0.0032 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
keeled +  and rounded +
swelling +
convolute +  and conduplicate +
not deciduous +  and deciduous +
not evident +
flat +, convolute +  and setaceous +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
spreading;erect +
pubescent +, scabrous +  and glabrous +
spikelike +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
Red fescue +  and Fetuque rouge tracante +
stoloniferous +
40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br /> (90 cm900 mm <br />0.9 m <br />) +
not woody +
Conn. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, Wash. +, Va. +, Del. +, D.C. +, Wis. +, W.Va. +, Pacific Islands (Hawaii) +, Mass. +, Maine +, N.H. +, R.I. +, Vt. +, Oreg. +, Wyo. +, Ala. +, Ariz. +, Ga. +, Iowa +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Ky. +, Md. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Mont. +, N.Dak. +, Nebr. +, N.Mex. +, Pa. +, S.C. +, Tex. +, N.C. +, Tenn. +, Calif. +, Nev. +, Alaska +, Colo. +, Idaho +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Greenland +, Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. +, N.S. +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Ont. +, P.E.I. +, Que. +, Sask. +, Yukon +, Ohio +, Utah +  and Mo. +
1/4 +  and 1/3 +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
sometimes longer +
5 +  and 8 +
compressed +
reduced +
shorter or longer +
subtending +
ovatelanceolate +  and lanceolate +
unequal +  and subequal +
not persistent +
antrorse +  and retrorse +
uncinate +
7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
1-7(9)-veined +
red-violet +  and green +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
lanceolate +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (0.75 cm7.5 mm <br />0.0075 m <br />) +
coriaceous +, chartaceous +  and membranous +
0.01 cm0.1 mm <br />1.0e-4 m <br /> (0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br />) +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
with hispidulous apices +  and glabrous +
well-developed +
2-keeled +
spikelike +
dry +  and fleshy +
glabrous +, pubescent +  and scabrous +
5 +  and 7 +
Introduced +
1 +  and 60 +
compressed +
0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br /> (1.45 cm14.5 mm <br />0.0145 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Gramineae +
Festuca rubra subsp. rubra +
Festuca rubra +
subspecies +
membranous +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.64 cm6.4 mm <br />0.0064 m <br />) +
parallel +  and converging +
obscure +  and prominent +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +