Species

Festuca rubra subsp. rubra

Etymology

Festuca: From the Latin festuca 'stem' or 'blade of grass'
rubra: red

Common Name(s)

red fescue

Authority

Festuca rubra L. subsp. rubra

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

FESRSR

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Grasses

Habitat

Terrestrial.

Features

Tufted perennial grass spreading from rhizomes. Leaves arise from the base and have sheath 3-7 cm, often with bright red veins, and an almost glabrous blade of 5-25 cm long and 0.5-2 mm wide, dark to bluish green. Knob-like swellings at junction of blade and sheath. Flowering culm up to 45 cm tall, pannicle usually 5-10 cm tall, closely held clusters of spikelets.

Similar Taxa

F. novae-zealandae is similar but has more wiry leaf blades up to 60 cm long.

Year Naturalised

1872

Origin

Europe

Reason For Introduction

Agricultural.

This page last updated on 9 Aug 2013