Tall Fescue

Plant: Erect, tufted perennial, cool-season grass, dark green leaves appear in late winter, usually flowering in spring (infrequently in late summer), 2-5 ft (60-130 cm) tall, stout unbranched stems, dark shiny green, from rootcrowns or short creeping rhizomes, usually dies back by mid- to late-summer, with whitish seed stalks persisting.

Stem: Moderately stout, hairless, round in cross-section, with 1-3 swollen light-green nodes widely spaced near the base.

Leaves: Mostly basal and few alternate, whitish to yellow-green flared collars, flat and long-attenuate blades, 4-18 in (10-45 cm) long and 0.1-0.3 in (3-8 mm) wide, smooth to rough, midvein not apparent, ligule a tiny white membrane, 1-2 leaves along the stem becoming smaller upward, collar backs often at an angle to the stem.

Flowers: Mar-Jun(-Oct). Terminal panicles, erect or nodding at tips, 4-12 in (10-30 cm) long, loosely branched, seed-head stalks becoming shorter upward, narrow then spreading in spring then narrow again, spikelets hairless, spindle-shaped clusters along branches, 4-7 flowered, greenish-white and shiny becoming purplish tinged, spikelets ellipsoid with a pointed tip, short stalked.

* USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA. February 5, 2002.