Relatives
Festuca regeliana Pavl. - Regel's tall fescue.
Taxonomical position.
Family Poaceae Benth. Genera Festuca L.Synonym.
Festuca orientalis (Hack.) Krecz. et Bobr.Morphology and biology.
Perennial cereal. The plant forms short rhizomes. Stalks reach heights of 50-120 cm. Leaves flat, hard, 5-11 mm wide. Panicle 20-30 cm long, drooping; in the bottom node of panicle there is a long branchlet with numerous spikelets, and in short one, there are 4-8 spikelets. Spikelets are 8-12 mm long with 4-6 flowers. The bottom floral scales are lanceolate, 6-9 mm long, integral on top, with awn up to 3 mm long. Blossoms in June-July. Anemophilous. Chromosome number: 2n=42.Distribution.
Occurs throughout the Southern European part of the former USSR, Western Siberia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.Ecology.
Occurs in damp and solonetzic meadows and saline soils in bottomlands of rivers.Use and economic value.
Fodder plant.Literature cited:
Grossheim A.A. 1939. Flora of Caucasus. Vol. 2. Polypodiaceae - Gramineae. Baku: Publishing house AzFaN. 587 pages.Hulten E., Fries M. 1986. Atlas of Northern European Vascular Plants North of the Tropic of Cancer: V. 1-3. Konigstein. 1172 p.
Malyshev L.I., Peshkova G.A., eds. 1990. Flora of Siberia. Vol. 2. Poaceae (Gramineae). Novosibirsk: Nauka. 361 pages.
Shelyag-Sosonko Yu.R., ed. 1977. Cereals of Ukraine. Kiev: Naukova Dumka. 518 pages.
Tzvelev N.N. 1976. Cereals of the USSR. Leningrad: Nauka. 788 pages.