Common Name: Colorado fescue

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Graminoid

General: Densely cespitose perennial, stems 4-20 cm, with a generally unbranched, narrow inflorescence 0.8-2.5 cm long.

Vegetative: Culms up to twice as long as leaves, blades 1-6 cm long, 1 mm wide, folded, smooth or scabrous; sheaths closed for half their length, persistent or slowly shredding into fibers; ligules <1 mm long; collars glabrous.

Inflorescence: Panicle 1.5-4 cm long, contracted, with 1-2 erect branches per node; lower branches have 2 or more spikelets; spikelets 4-5 mm long, with 2-4 florets; glumes 2-4 mm long, exceeded by upper florets, usually smooth and glabrous; lemmas 3-4 mm long, scabrous toward the apices, awns 2-3 mm long; paleas about the same lengh as the lemmas; anthers 1 mm.

Ecology: Found in open, rocky, subalpine or alpine areas at 9,200-14,100 ft. (2800-4300 m); floers July-September.

Distribution: Western sates except Idaho and Washington

Notes: The subspecies F. brachyphylla coloradensis is distinguished from the other two North American subspecies (ssp. Brachyphylla and ssp. brevistemis) by having stems that are usually twice the length of its leaves, awns 2-3 mm long, spikelets 4-5 mm long, and lemmas 3-4 mm long. It is eaten by livestock and is an important forage for wildlife in some areas.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Festuca is Latin for a grass stalk or straw, while brachyphylla means short-leaved.

Editor: LKearsley, 2012