Burke: Festuca brachyphylla vs. Festuca idahoensis

	Festuca brachyphylla	Festuca idahoensis
	alpine fescue	bluebunch fescue, Idaho fescue
Habit		Strongly tufted perennial, usually glabrous, the hollow culms 4-10 dm. tall.
Leaves		Sheaths open, usually glabrous; ligules 0.3-0.6 mm. long, highest on the sides; blades mostly basal, filiform, folded-involute, up to 10 cm. long.
Flowers		Inflorescence a narrow panicle 7-15 cm. long, the branches erect to ascending; spikelets 5- to 7-flowered; first glume narrowly lanceolate, about 3.5 mm. long, 1-nerved; second glume oblong-lanceolate, about 5 mm. long, 3-nerved; lemmas rounded, about 6.5 mm. long, with a stout awn 2-5 mm. long; palea equal to the lemma.

	Festuca brachyphylla	Festuca idahoensis
Flowering time	June-August	May-July
Habitat	Open rocky places in the alpine.	Grasslands and sagebrush desert to dry mountain slopes, occasionally to the subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, and northeastern North America; circumboreal. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains and northern Great Plains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	F. campestris, F. filiformis, F. idahoensis, F. occidentalis, F. ovina, F. roemeri, F. rubra, F. saximontana, F. subulata, F. subuliflora, F. trachyphylla, F. valesiaca, F. viridula, F. washingtonica	F. brachyphylla, F. campestris, F. filiformis, F. occidentalis, F. ovina, F. roemeri, F. rubra, F. saximontana, F. subulata, F. subuliflora, F. trachyphylla, F. valesiaca, F. viridula, F. washingtonica
Subordinate taxa	F. brachyphylla ssp. brachyphylla, F. brachyphylla ssp. coloradensis
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: 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	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

Festuca brachyphylla

Festuca idahoensis

alpine fescue

bluebunch fescue, Idaho fescue

Habit

Strongly tufted perennial, usually glabrous, the hollow culms 4-10 dm. tall.

Leaves

Sheaths open, usually glabrous;

ligules 0.3-0.6 mm. long, highest on the sides;

blades mostly basal, filiform, folded-involute, up to 10 cm. long.

Flowers

Inflorescence a narrow panicle 7-15 cm. long, the branches erect to ascending;

spikelets 5- to 7-flowered; first glume narrowly lanceolate, about 3.5 mm. long, 1-nerved; second glume oblong-lanceolate, about 5 mm. long, 3-nerved;

lemmas rounded, about 6.5 mm. long, with a stout awn 2-5 mm. long;

palea equal to the lemma.

Festuca brachyphylla

Festuca idahoensis

Flowering time

June-August

May-July

Habitat

Open rocky places in the alpine.

Grasslands and sagebrush desert to dry mountain slopes, occasionally to the subalpine.

Distribution

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, and northeastern North America; circumboreal.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]