Burke: Festuca idahoensis vs. Festuca trachyphylla

	Festuca idahoensis	Festuca trachyphylla
	bluebunch fescue, Idaho fescue	hard 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 idahoensis	Festuca trachyphylla
Flowering time	May-July	May-July
Habitat	Grasslands and sagebrush desert to dry mountain slopes, occasionally to the subalpine.	Fields, roadsides, wastelots, and other disturbed areas.
Distribution	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]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across much of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	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	F. brachyphylla, F. campestris, F. filiformis, F. idahoensis, F. occidentalis, F. ovina, F. roemeri, F. rubra, F. saximontana, F. subulata, F. subuliflora, F. valesiaca, F. viridula, F. washingtonica
Web links	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	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 idahoensis

Festuca trachyphylla

bluebunch fescue, Idaho fescue

hard 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.