''Festuca idahoensis'' 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 an ...

known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common. It can be found in many ecosystems, from shady forests to open plains grasslands.

Description

This

fescue ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every ...

is a densely clumping long-lived 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 perennial ...

with stems from about 30 to 80 centimeters in height. The stiff, short, rolling leaves are mostly located near the base of the tuft. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

has hairy spikelets which produce large awned fruits. The root system is thick and penetrates deeply into the soil. The roots have symbiotic

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...

e. There are no

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s; the plant reproduces from seeds and from budding with tillers. It is similar to, but generally taller and larger than, ''

Poa secunda ''Poa secunda'' (variously known by the common names of Sandberg bluegrass, alkali bluegrass, big bluegrass, Canby's bluegrass, Nevada bluegrass, one-sided bluegrass, Pacific bluegrass, pine blugrass, slender bluegrass, wild bluegrass, and curly ...

''.

Ecology

The species can grow in well-soiled areas along with

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

. This is a nutritious and preferred forage grass for wild and domestic animals. Typical native grass associates in the far west coastal prairies are ''

Danthonia californica ''Danthonia californica'' is a species of grass known by the common name California oatgrass. This plant is native to two separate regions of the Americas, western North America from California to Saskatchewan, and Chile. Description ''Danthonia ...

, Deschampsia caespitosa'' and ''

Nassella pulchra ''Nassella pulchra'', basionym ''Stipa pulchra'', is a species of grass known by the common names purple needlegrass and purple tussockgrass. It is native to the U.S. state of California, where it occurs throughout the coastal hills, valleys, an ...

.'' It is a popular larval host, supporting Lindsey's skipper, sandhill skipper, Sonora skipper,

woodland skipper ''Ochlodes sylvanoides'', the woodland skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in North America from British Columbia south to southern California, east to Montana, Colorado and Arizona. The wingspan is 25–32 mm. The ...

, and western banded skipper caterpillars. Cultivars, such as "Siskiyou Blue," are produced in the

horticulture industry The horticulture industry embraces the production, processing and shipping of and the market for fruits and vegetables. As such it is a sector of agribusiness and industrialized agriculture. Industrialized horticulture sometimes also includes the f ...

for

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

use.

References

Notes

* C. Michael Hogan. 2009
"Purple Needlegrass (''Nassella pulchra'')" Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
*''Jepson Manual''. 1993
Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Festuca idahoensis''

External links

Grass Manual Treatment: ''Festuca idahoensis''USDA Plants Profile - ''Festuca idahoensis''

''Festuca idahoensis'' - U.C. Photo gallery
idahoensis Bunchgrasses of North America Native grasses of California Grasses of the United States Grasses of Canada Flora of Idaho Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Great Basin 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 Garden plants of North America Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Pooideae-stub