General:
Perennial, tufted grass, sometimes from short rhizomes, otherwise from fibrous roots; stems erect, 90-150 (200) cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths smooth; blades in-rolled in young shoots, 4-12 mm wide; ear-shaped lobes at the leaf-bases sickle-shaped, slightly wavy or obscure, sparsely fringed with fine hairs on the margins; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm long, membranous.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an open or stiffly erect, simple panicle, 10-35 cm long; spikelets 3- to 6- (9-) flowered, stalked, 8-15.5 mm long, each with 2 glumes; lower glumes 3-6 mm long, upper glumes 4.5-7 (9) mm long; lemmas (4) 5-9 (11.5) mm long, rough short-hairy or short bristlelike at least near the tips (rarely smooth), sometimes unawned, or if awned, the awns 0.3-2 (4) mm long, terminal or attached up to 0.4 mm below the tips; anthers 2.5-4 mm long.
Notes:
An important crop grown for seed production (primarily in the Peace River District), forage, soil stabilization, and coarse turf, it is increasingly planted in various habitats and becoming broadly adventive.
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
Elevation
(metres) |
5 | 5 | 5 |
Slope
Gradient (%) |
1 | 0 | 2 |
Aspect (degrees) |
0 | ||
Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 4 | 5 |
Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
E | ||
#
of field plots species was recorded in: |
3 | ||
Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CWH(2) | ||
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Festuca arundinacea Schreb.
Festuca elatior
Festuca elatior subsp. arundinacea (Schreb.) Hack.
Festuca elatior var. arundinacea (Schreb.) Wimm.
Festuca fenas Lag.
Festuca uechtritziana Wiesb.
Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) S.J. Darbyshire