Culms 70-200 cm tall, 6-8 mm thick at the base. Ligules 3-7(9) mm;
blades 20-45 cm long, 4-12 mm wide. Panicles 15-30 cm; primary
branches ascending to divergent, spikelets appressed to the branches. Spikelets
7-11 mm. Lower glumes 5-8 mm; upper glumes 6.5-9 mm; calluses
about 0.5 mm; lemmas 4-9 mm; paleas about as long as the lemmas;
anthers 2-4 mm. 2n = 28.
Scolochloa festucacea grows in ponds, marshes, seasonally flooded basins,
and shallow margins of freshwater to moderately saline lakes and streams. It
provides good nesting cover for some waterfowl and shorebirds, and can provide
valuable forage for livestock and wildlife. It does not compete well with hybrid
cattails (Typha latifolia × T. angustifolia or T. domingensis).
Much like no. 1 [Festuca pratensis Huds.], often taller, to 2 m; old sheaths pale stramineous, only tardily disintegrating; blades coarse and thick, prominently ridge-veined above, 4-10 mm wide, with ciliate auricles; first node of the panicle with 2-3 branches, each with 5-15 spikelets, these mostly 3-6-fld; first glume (3-)4-6 mm, the second (4-)5-9 mm; lemmas 7-8.5+ mm, usually scabrous distally, the awn 0.3-2(-4) mm; 2n most often = 42, sometimes 28, 56, 63, 70. Native of Europe, widely planted in our range and elsewhere in the U.S., and readily escaping. (F. elatior, a rejected name)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
Common Name: tall fescue Duration: Perennial Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Large tufted perennial with stems to 1.5 m, glabrous auricles that are falcate and clasping, sometimes with an undulating flange. Vegetative: Blades flat 20-40 cm long, 4-18 mm wide, ligule membranous and glaucous, 1 mm. Inflorescence: Spikelike panicle 8-50 cm long with 2 branches per node, erect to spreading with laterally compressed spikelets 8-13 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide with 3-10 florets; disarticulation above the glumes and between the florets lower glumes 4-7 mm, equally wide, lanceolate to oblong, 3-7 veined, unawned or awned, awns to 18 mm, straight; upper glumes 4.5-7 mm; lemmas 5-9 mm, awns absent or to 4 mm, terminal or attached below the apices. Ecology: Found in disturbed sites and along stream banks from 3,000-6,500 ft (914-1981 m); flowers April-September. Distribution: Introduced to every continent and found throughout N. Amer., in every state in the US. Notes: Distinguished by being a robust perennial bunchgrass with pronounced, ciliate auricles (top section of leaf sheath wrapping around the culm), where they are glabrous in F. pratensis; flat, wide leaves; and a condensed to semi-open panicle of spikelets with multiple florets, possessing rough-hairy lemmas. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Schedonorus is from Greek schedon, for near or nearby and nardos for spikenard, while phoenix is the Greek name for the date palm. Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015