Festuca californica
Festuca subulata
California fescue
bearded fescue
branching extravaginal.
mostly cauline;
sheaths glabrous to minutely scabrous, splitting between the veins;
collars glabrous;
ligules 0.2– 0.7(1)mm, ciliate; the cilia much shorter than the membranous part;
blades 3–8(10)mm wide; flat; lax;
upper surface glabrous to sparsely hairy;
lower surface glabrous or soft hairy.
(10)15–30(40) cm; lowest node with (1)2(3) branches;
branches 6–10(15)cm, spreading or drooping.
6–11(12) × 1.5–3.5 mm, 3–4(5) florets.
glabrous or with short hairs at the apex only;
lower glumes (1.8)2– 3.2(4) mm, 1-veined;
upper glumes (2)3.5–5.5(6) mm, 1–3-veined.
4–5.5 mm;
tips hairy.
apex hairy.
0.1–0.2 mm; wider than long, glabrous.
(5)6–7.5(8.8)mm, 0–3-veined, glabrous or sometimes sparsely to densely scabrous or short-hairy; awns (2.5)5– 10(17)mm, sometimes curving; longest awns longer than the lemma body.
=14, 28.
Festuca californica
Festuca subulata
Moist forest, rarely in meadows. 0–2000m. BW, Casc, CR, ECas, Est, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to British Columbia, east to WY. Native.
Festuca subulata is a common, leafy-stemmed grass of forests, with a nodding inflorescence. Similar Melica species and Bromus vulgaris have closed leaf sheaths. Trisetum canescens and T. cernuum have lemma awns arising from the back. Festuca subuliflora is similar but has long calluses, long hairs on the collar and velvety pubescence on the upper surface of the leaves. Festuca elmeri has consistently scabrous to short-hairy lemmas with distinctly visible veins.
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
