''Festuca californica'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

known by the common name California fescue. This fescue species is native to the U.S. states of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, where it is a member of many plant communities, including chaparral and

oak woodland An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the ...

Description

''Festuca californica'' is a clumping perennial

bunch grass 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 perennia ...

, without rhizomes, that grows in greenish gray tufts. It reaches anywhere from in height, and in width. The green-gray leaves are narrow, and can reach 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 ...

, on stems reaching up to , holds spikelets, which are each 1 to 2 centimeters long. The flowers are in large open sprays, in the spring and summer. The plant reproduces from seed and from buds located at the base of the clump.

Uses

Cultivation

''Festuca californica'' is cultivated as an

ornamental grass Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. Ornamental grasses are popular in many colder hardiness zones for their resilience to cold temperatures and aesthetic value throughout fall and winter seasons. Classifications Along ...

by specialty

plant nurseries A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

, for planting in traditional gardens and as a

potted plant Container gardening or pot gardening/farming is the practice of growing plants, including edible plants, exclusively in containers instead of planting them in the ground. A container in gardening is a small, enclosed and usually portable object ...

, for

drought-tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, deto ...

and

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibian ...

s, and for

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants and adapted species, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural land ...

projects. It is planted under

Coast live oak ''Quercus agrifolia'', the California live oak, or coast live oak, is a highly variable, often evergreen oak tree, a type of live oak, native to the California Floristic Province. It may be shrubby, depending on age and growing location, but is ...

s (''Quercus agrifolia'') in gardens, being a drought-tolerant understory not requiring summer watering that can endanger the trees. It is also planted in landscapes for slope stabilization and erosion control, due to its deep and dense network of roots.

Cultivars

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s are grown, with different foliage color and texture aesthetic variations, they include: *''Festuca californica'' 'Serpentine Blue' — blue grey-green. *''Festuca californica'' 'River House Blues' (Ron's California Fescue) — chalky blue.San Marcos Growers: ''Festuca californica'' 'River House Blues'
/ref> *''Festuca californica'' 'Gabilan Blues' — shiny light blue. *''Festuca californica'' 'San Rafael Blue' — silver blue-green. *''Festuca californica'' 'Blue Fountain' - Suncrest Nurseries — chalky blue. Suncrest Nurseries: ''Festuca californica'' 'Blue Fountain'
/ref>

Restoration

ecological restoration Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interrupt ...

projects, ''Festuca californica'' is used with other local native grasses for restoring California coastal prairie habitats.

References

External links

CalFlora Database: ''Festuca californica'' (California fescue)

Jepson eFlora-TJM2 — ''Festuca californica''USDA Plants Profile for ''Festuca californica'' (California fescue)''Festuca californica'' — U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5445865 californica Bunchgrasses of North America Native grasses of California Grasses of the United States Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of the Klamath Mountains Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status