Common Name: Idaho fescue

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Graminoid

General: Cool-season perennial, stems 25-85 cm tall, with sparse, narrow, basal leaves that have a bluish green hue, and with a narrow, dense panicle.

Vegetative: Densely cespitose, blades 5-35 cm long, < 2 mm wide, rolled, with 3-5 well-defined ribs; sheaths closed for less than half their length, smooth or scabrous; ligules < 1 mm;

Inflorescence: Panicle 7-15 cm long, loosely contractd, 1-2 branches per node; branches sometimes erect, lower branches usually spreading somewhat, lower branches have 2 or more spikelets; spikelets 7-13 mm long, with 4-7 florets; glumes are exceeded by the upper florets, 2-6 mm long, mostly smooth; lemmas 5-8 mm long, rounded, scabrous near tip, with awns 3-6 mm long; anthers 2-4 mm long.

Ecology: Found in grasslands, sagebrush meadows, rocky slopes, and open forests up to 6000-10,000 ft. (1800-3000 m); flowers July-August.

Distribution: All western states and South Dakota

Ethnobotany: Culms were tied together and used as a brush to clean metates. Is used as forage for domestic livestock.

Etymology: Festuca is Latin for a grass stalk or straw, while idahoensis refers to it being from the state of Idaho.

Editor: LKearsley, 2012