Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Festuca rubra
FAMILY
Poaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Festuca from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Festuca rubra ssp. rubra
FAMILY
Poaceae
INCLUDING Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 24 (2007)
Festuca rubra ssp. rubra
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-18-005:
Festuca rubra FAMILY Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Festuca rubra
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Festuca rubra
COMMON NAME:
Red Fescue
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm240502_8995
May Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve, in cultivation
Plants loosely tufted, often rhizomatous, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
)
JK Marlow jkm240502_8998
May Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve, in cultivation
Spikelets 6-13 mm long, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
)
JK Marlow jkm250625_1248
June Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve, in cultivation
)
JK Marlow jkm250625_1251
June Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve, in cultivation
Culms usually loosely tufted, bent or decumbent at the reddish or purplish base, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Festuca rubra
FAMILY
Poaceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Festuca rubra ssp. rubra
FAMILY
Poaceae
INCLUDING
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 24
Festuca rubra ssp. rubra
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-18-005:
Festuca rubra
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Festuca rubra
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Festuca rubra
4284
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial
Habitat: dune grasslands, salt scrub, and borders of oligohaline to mesohaline marshes in the Coastal Plain (where presumably native), in middle- to high-elevation forests, rocky woodlands, barrens, grassy balds, and bogs in the Mountains (where also presumably native), and in fields, pastures, weedy clearings, and other open, disturbed habitats (where presumably introduced from Eurasia, adventive from native populations, or some complex mix of situations), per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolina Mountains (non-native elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
Common in SC Mountains, uncommon in NC Mountains (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly basal
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Plants loosely tufted, often rhizomatous
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
3 stamens
Inflorescence a panicle
FRUIT:
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".