Burke: Festuca viridula vs. Festuca washingtonica

	Festuca viridula	Festuca washingtonica
	green-leaf fescue	Washington fescue
Habit	Tufted perennial, forming small clumps, the culms 4-8 dm. tall.
Leaves	Sheaths open, glabrous to pubescent, very strongly veined; ligules 0.5 mm. long, entire; blades flat, 1.5-2.5 mm. broad, finely puberulent above and glabrous beneath.
Flowers	Inflorescence a somewhat-open panicle 6-15 cm. long; spikelets 3- to 7-flowered, the rachilla joints visible, 1-1.5 mm. long; first glume about 4 mm. long, 1-veined; second glume about 5 mm. long, 3-nerved; lemmas usually slightly scabrous, about 7 mm. long, acute, awnless or with an awn under 1 mm. long; paleas equal to the lemmas.

	Festuca viridula	Festuca washingtonica
Flowering time	June-July	May-July
Habitat	Subalpine slopes, rock slides, and meadows to well above timberline.	Well-drained slopes in sagebrush and open pine forest.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Alberta and Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Southern British Columbia Washington. [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	F. brachyphylla, 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. washingtonica	F. brachyphylla, 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
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, 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

Festuca viridula

Festuca washingtonica

green-leaf fescue

Washington fescue

Habit

Tufted perennial, forming small clumps, the culms 4-8 dm. tall.

Leaves

Sheaths open, glabrous to pubescent, very strongly veined;

ligules 0.5 mm. long, entire;

blades flat, 1.5-2.5 mm. broad, finely puberulent above and glabrous beneath.

Flowers

Inflorescence a somewhat-open panicle 6-15 cm. long;

spikelets 3- to 7-flowered, the rachilla joints visible, 1-1.5 mm. long; first glume about 4 mm. long, 1-veined; second glume about 5 mm. long, 3-nerved;

lemmas usually slightly scabrous, about 7 mm. long, acute, awnless or with an awn under 1 mm. long;

paleas equal to the lemmas.