Belongs within: Poeae.
Festuca, the fescues, is a genus of grasses found in temperate parts of the world. Many species are commercially significant as grazing or lawn grasses; they are often favoured in revegetation programmes for their ability to establish on bare ground. Blue fescue Festuca glauca is grown as an ornamental. Phylogenetic studies have shown that Festuca as historically recognised is not monophyletic and suggested its restriction to a subgroup known as the ‘fine-leaved fescues’ (Kellogg 2015).
Plants are bisexual in the subgenus Festuca but species of the genus Leucopoa are dioecious. A group of annual species with generally one stamen per floret has historically been recognised as the genus Vulpia (Hickman 1993). Meadow fescue F. pratensis has prominent basal lobes on the leaf blade, more or less clasping the stem (Hickman 1993).
Characters (Kellogg 2015): Annuals (some very tiny) or perennials, caespitose or rhizomatous. Leaves generally slender. Inflorescence unbranched or with branched branches. Spikelets with 1 to 11 (17) flowers, or pseudoviviparous in a few species. Glumes shorter than flowers, their apices acuminate, awned or unawned. Callus of flowers often wider than long, pubescent or glabrous. Lemma apex acute to acuminate, entire or sometimes minutely bidentate, mucronate to awned. Apex of ovary glabrous or pubescent. Stamens 1 or 3. 2n = 14, 28, 42, 44, 49, 50, 56, 63, 70.
<==Festuca L. 1753 (see below for synonymy)K15
|--F. subg. FestucaH93
| |--F. brachyphyllaH93
| | |--F. b. ssp. brachyphyllaH93
| | `--F. b. ssp. breviculmisH93
| |--F. californicaH93
| |--F. elmeri [incl. F. elmeri ssp. luxurians]H93
| |--F. idahoensisH93
| |--F. minutifloraH93
| |--F. occidentalisH93
| |--F. pratensis [incl. F. elatior]H93
| |--F. rubraH93
| | |--F. r. var. rubraV72
| | `--F. r. var. commutataV72
| |--F. saximontanaH93
| | |--F. s. var. saximontanaH93
| | `--F. s. var. purpusianaH93
| |--F. subulataH93
| |--F. subulifloraH93
| `--F. viridulaH93
|--F. subg. Drymanthele Krecz. & Bobrov 1934K15
`--F. subg. Obtusae Alexeev 1980K15
Festuca incertae sedis:
F. acanthophylla [incl. F. erecta var. aristulata]S06
F. alpinaPS98
F. amplissimaRJ11
F. arizonicaK15
F. brevifoliaD60
F. bromoidesH93 [=Vulpia bromoides H93; incl. F. dertonensis H93, F. plebeia B78, F. sciuroidesG52]
F. callieri (Hack. ex St.-Yves) Markgr. 1933PL04
‘Vulpia’ ciliataG52
F. cinereaM08
F. commersoniiD03
F. contracta Kirk 1895C06
F. coxii (Petrie) Hackel in Cheeseman 1906 [=Agropyrum coxii Petrie 1902]C06
F. dissitiflora Steud. 1829S06
|--F. d. var. dissitifloraS06
`--F. d. var. loricataS06
F. eastwoodiaeM68
F. eriostoma Hackel 1902S06
‘Vulpia’ fasciculataPT98
F. giganteaSF98
F. glaucaSF98
F. gracillanaSB06
F. guestfalicaRZ96
F. hieronymiS06
|--F. h. f. hieronymiS06
`--F. h. f. panicula-expansaS06
F. leptopogonKYK07
F. littoralis Labill. 1804G52 (see below for synonymy)
|--F. l. var. littoralisB78
`--‘Schedonorus’ l. var. triticoides [=Festuca triticoides]B78
F. longifolia [incl. F. trachyphylla]K15
‘Vulpia’ membranaceaG52
F. microstachys [=Vulpia microstachys]H93
|--F. m. var. microstachys [incl. F. arida]H93
|--‘Vulpia’ m. var ciliata [incl. Festuca eastwoodae, F. grayi]H93
|--‘Vulpia’ m. var. confusa [=Festuca confusa; incl. F. tracyi]H93
`--‘Vulpia’ m. var. pauciflora [incl. Festuca pacifica, F. reflexa, F. microstachys var. simulans]H93
F. multinodisA27
F. myurus Lin. 1753S06 [=Vulpia myuros (Linnaeus) Gmelin 1805PL04]
|--V. m. var. myurosH93
`--V. m. var. hirsuta [incl. Festuca megalura]H93
F. octoflora [=Vulpia octoflora]H93
|--F. o. ssp. octofloraH93
`--F. o. ssp. hirtella [=Vulpia octoflora var. hirtella]H93
F. ovina [incl. F. ovina var. duriuscula]V72
|--F. o. var. ovinaC06
|--F. o. var. matthewsii Hackel 1903C06
`--F. o. var. novae-zealandiae Hackel 1903C06
F. paradoxaSF98
F. pilosaC55
F. polycoleaO88
|--F. p. var. polycoleaO88
`--F. p. var. brevisO88
F. pseudovinaCS77
F. purpurascensD03
F. quadridentataS06
F. scabrella [incl. F. scabrella var. major]V72
F. scirpoidea (Steud.) Muell. 1874 [=Brizopyrum scirpoideum, Schedonorus scirpoides]G52
F. setifoliaS06
|--F. s. f. setifoliaS06
`--F. s. f. mutica Hackel in Stuckert 1906S06
F. tenuifolia [incl. F. capillata (nom. illeg.)]V72
F. undataO88
|--F. u. var. undataO88
`--F. u. var. aristataO88 [=F. duriuscula var. aristataB78]
F. versutaSF98
F. viviparaCS77
F. sect. Amphigenes (Janka) Tzvelev 1971K15
F. sect. Montanae Hack. 1882K15
F. sect. OvinarumS06
|--F. calchaquiensis Hackel in Stuckert 1906S06
|--F. erectaS06
|--F. nardifoliaS06
|--F. obtusataS06
`--F. uninodis Hackel in Stuckert 1906S06
F. sect. Pseudoscariosa Krivot. 1960K15
F. sect. Scariosae Hack. 1882K15
F. sect. Subulatae Tzvelev 1971K15
F. sect. Subuliflorae (Alexeev) Darbysh. 1997K15
Festuca L. 1753 [incl. Ctenopsis De Not. 1847, Dielsiochloa Pilg. 1943, Hellerochloa Rauschert 1982, Micropyrum (Gaudin) Link 1844, Narduroides Rouy 1913, Vulpia Gmel. 1805, Wangenheimia Moench 1794]K15
Festuca littoralis Labill. 1804G52 [=Schedonorus littoralisC06; incl. S. billardierianusB78, Festuca pubinervisG52, Arundo trioidioidesB78]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
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