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Festuca arundinacea Schreb. |
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Graminae Festuca elatior L., F. elatior L. subsp. arundinacea (Schreb.) Hack.) |
Author: Alain Peeters |
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Tall fescue (English), Fétuque roseau or fétuque élevée (French), Rohr schwingel (German). Perennial plant, very robust, hairless (except auricles), cespitous to a rather rhizomatous. Stems erect, 50 - 110 (- 150) cm high. Blade rolled when young, large (3 - 10 mm), flat, strongly veined, coarse, rough on the upper side, shiny below, dark green. Sheaths of the inferior leaves purple-red. Ligule short, greenish. Auricles strong, ciliate. Panicle-like inflorescence, spreading even after flowering, oblong, loose. Spikelets 4 - 7 - flowered, briefly aristate, 10 - 15 mm long. Variable species. The weight of 1000 seeds is 1.8 to 2.5 g (average seeds). Chromosome number: 2n = 42 (hexaploid). Physiological peculiarities: Hybridizes with Lolium perenne: x Festulolium holmbergii and with Festuca pratensis: x Festolium braunii. Often invaded by endophytes Acremonium type. Very good resistance to climate extremes (heat and cold). The tall fescues native to the Mediterranean bassin are however sensitive to low temperatures. Very resistant to summer drought. Large range of soil humidity. Tolerates remarkably well a sodden soil in winter. Optimum on cool soils, normally drained to dry. Very well adapted to alternations of the water supply regime. Able to absorb water far beneath the surface by a strong root system. Large range for nutrient availability but excluded from very poor soils (mesotrophic to eutrophic species). Widely encountered on slightly acid to alcaline soils. Often on heavy clay soils or on deep loam but quite indifferent to the soil texture. Native to Europe. Has become subcosmopolitan in temperate regions. In the lowlands, only below 300 m in the United Kingdom. |