''Festuca altaica'', synonym ''Festuca scabrella'', is a perennial

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...

with a wide native distribution in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

, from central Asia to eastern North America. It has been called altai fescue and, under the synonym ''F. scabrella'', rough fescue.

Description

''Festuca altaica'' is a densely tufted perennial grass. The tufts are connected by short rhizomes. The flowering stems ( culms) are usually tall, but may reach . The upper (adaxial) surface of the leaves is densely covered with short hairs. A ligule is present and is long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a loose panicle. The spikelets are long, purple to brown in color, and have 3 to 6 individual florets. ''Festuca altaica'' flowers and fruits from late spring to the fall.

Taxonomy

''Festuca altaica'' was first described in 1829 by

Carl Bernhard von Trinius Carl Bernhard von Trinius (6 March 1778, Eisleben – 12 March 1844, St. Petersburg) was a German-born botanist and physician. He studied medicine at several universities, earning his medical doctorate at the University of Göttingen in 1802. ...

, who wrote the section on grasses in ''Flora Altaica'', whose principal author was

Carl Friedrich von Ledebour Carl Friedrich von Ledebour (8 July 1786, Stralsund – 4 July 1851, Munich;NDB/ADB Deutsche Bi ...

. ''Festuca scabrella'' was described in 1840 by John Torrey in William Jackson Hooker's ''Flora Boreali-Americana''. It was reduced to a subspecies of ''F. altaica'' in 1942 and then a variety in 1957. It is now considered to be a synonym of ''F. altaica''.

Distribution

''Festuca altaica'' has a wide

distribution. In temperate Asia it is native to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

in China. In North America it occurs throughout the subarctic, in western Canada, in parts of eastern Canada (

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

, Newfoundland and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) and into

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in the United States. The Canadian province of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, in the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

region, is home to a large area of grassland containing this species. Under the name ''Festuca scabrella'', rough fescue is the provincial grass of Alberta.Emblems of Alberta
/ref>

References

{{Authority control altaica Flora of Siberia Flora of the Russian Far East Flora of Xinjiang Flora of Mongolia Flora of Subarctic America Flora of Western Canada Flora of Labrador Flora of Newfoundland Flora of Quebec Flora of Michigan Bunchgrasses of North America Native grasses of the Great Plains region Grasses of Canada Grasses of the United States Flora of the Canadian Prairies Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of Alberta Provincial symbols of Alberta Plants described in 1829 Flora without expected TNC conservation status