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Fescues
Festuca
Festuca (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen, herbaceous, or perennial, tufted grasses with a height range of 10–200 cm (4–79 in) and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. The genus is closely related to ryegrass (Lolium), and recent evidence from phylogenetic studies using DNA sequencing of plant mitochondrial DNA shows that the genus lacks monophyly. As a result, plant taxonomists have moved several species, including the forage grasses tall fescue and meadow fescue, from the genus Festuca into the genus Lolium or alternatively into the segregated genus Schedonorus.
Because the taxonomy is complex, scientists have not determined how many true species belong to the genus, but estimates range from more than 400 to over 640.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Complex Festuca rubra
sectionAulaxyper
Vulpia
sectionVulpia
Complex Festuca ovina
sectionFestuca
sixweeks grass
speciesFestuca octoflora
California fescue
speciesFestuca californica
Valais Fescue
speciesFestuca valesiaca
Nodding Fescue
speciesFestuca subverticillata
Blue Fescue
speciesFestuca glauca
Idaho fescue
speciesFestuca idahoensis
small fescue
speciesFestuca microstachys
Roemer's Fescue
speciesFestuca roemeri
Wood Fescue
speciesFestuca altissima
western fescue
speciesFestuca occidentalis
hard fescue
speciesFestuca trachyphylla
furrowed fescue
speciesFestuca rupicola
Viviparous Sheep's-fescue
speciesFestuca vivipara
Big Rough Fescue
speciesFestuca campestris
Rough Fescue
speciesFestuca hallii
Altai fescue
speciesFestuca altaica
mountain fescue
speciesFestuca saximontana
Various-leaved Fescue
speciesFestuca heterophylla
Festuca pallens
speciesFestuca pallens
rock fescue
speciesFestuca petraea
Sand Fescue
speciesFestuca ammobia
Gravel Fescue
speciesFestuca lachenalii
Texas Fescue
speciesFestuca versuta
Shortleaf Fescue
speciesFestuca brachyphylla
Spike Fescue
speciesFestuca kingii
Clustered Fescue
speciesFestuca paradoxa
Festuca chrysophylla
speciesFestuca chrysophylla
Bristletail Grass
speciesFestuca incurva
Hard Tussock
speciesFestuca novae-zelandiae
Festuca beckeri
speciesFestuca beckeri
Festuca pseudovina
speciesFestuca pseudovina
Richardson's Fescue
speciesFestuca richardsonii
Munnik Fesque
speciesFestuca scabra
bearded fescue
speciesFestuca subulata
crinkle-awn fescue
speciesFestuca subuliflora
Land-tussac
speciesFestuca contracta
Arizona Fescue
speciesFestuca arizonica
Festuca dolichophylla
speciesFestuca dolichophylla
Festuca elegans
speciesFestuca elegans
mountain bunch grass
speciesFestuca viridula
Banks Peninsula blue tussock
speciesFestuca actae
Small-glum fescue
speciesFestuca parvigluma
Festuca eskia
speciesFestuca eskia
Festuca hystrix
speciesFestuca hystrix
Spiky Fescue
speciesFestuca gautieri
Festuca drymeja
speciesFestuca drymeja
Festuca quadriflora
speciesFestuca quadriflora
Festuca scabriculmis
speciesFestuca scabriculmis
Festuca varia
speciesFestuca varia
Festuca sibirica
speciesFestuca sibirica
violet fescue
speciesFestuca violacea
Festuca halleri
speciesFestuca halleri
Festuca vaginata
speciesFestuca vaginata
Franco's fescue
speciesFestuca francoi
Amethyst Fescue
speciesFestuca amethystina
Festuca thurberi
speciesFestuca thurberi
Festuca donax
speciesFestuca donax
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Festuca in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 57170.