1. Festuca arundinacea Schreb. (tall fescue)
Pl. 167 i,
j; Map 713
F. elatior L. var. arundinacea (Schreb.) Wimm.
Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.
Plants with short rhizomes, forming tufts or clumps, green
to dark green. Flowering stems 40–150(–200) cm long, sometimes dark purple at
the base. Leaf sheaths open nearly to the base, the basal sheaths persistent,
turning straw‑colored at maturity, but usually not becoming shredded into
fibers, the ligule 0.2–0.6 mm long. Leaf blades 5–45 cm long, 3–12 mm wide,
flat, glabrous, with a conspicuous pair of auricles at the base (sometimes worn
off or folded inward in older materials), these sparsely to densely hairy along
the margins. Inflorescences 10–25(–35) cm long, open or narrow, the branches
loosely to strongly ascending at maturity, the lowermost branches with clusters
of 5–15, mostly strongly overlapping spikelets toward the tip. Spikelets 8–14
mm long, 2.5–5.5 mm wide, elliptic‑lanceolate before flowering (oblong‑elliptic
at maturity), with (3)4–6 florets (rarely some of the florets replaced with
vegetative bulblets). Lower glume 3–6 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, sharply
pointed at the tip. Upper glume 4–8 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, sharply pointed
at the tip, 3‑ or 5‑nerved. Lemmas 7–10 mm long, oblong‑elliptic,
tapered to a sharp point or an awn 0.5–2.0(–4.0) mm long at the tip, not
toothed, 5‑nerved, the nerves sometimes faint, glabrous or slightly
roughened only near the tip. Anthers 2.5–4.0 mm long. Fruits 2.5–3.5 mm long,
reddish brown. 2n=28, 42, 56, 63, 70, mostly 2n=42. April–July
(sometimes through October).
Introduced, scattered to common nearly throughout Missouri, but apparently absent from most of the Mississippi Lowlands Division (native of
Europe, Asia, and Africa; widely planted and naturalized throughout most of the
temperate and subtropical portions of the world). Upland prairies, glades,
banks of creeks, margins of spring branches, ponds, and lakes; also pastures,
ditches, levees, roadsides, railroads, and disturbed areas.
Tall fescue is a principal, introduced, cool‑season
species for forage and hay in the midwestern and eastern United States. It also is planted commonly for erosion control along roadsides. Low‑growing
races are used as drought‑resistant turf grasses for lawns as well. This
species has replaced native plant communities on countless acres of Missouri’s landscape and can invade upland prairies and glades, especially if these are
overgrazed during the summer months. A number of cultivars exist. For a
discussion of problems with F. arundinacea as a forage grass, see the
paragraph on fungal associations at the introduction to the genus Festuca.