Bearskin fescue

Bearskin fescue
Festuca scoparia var. Serpentina in the Bayreuth Ecological and Botanical Garden
Systematics
Monocots Commelinids Order : Sweet grass (Poales) Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae) Genre : Fescue ( festuca ) Type : Bearskin fescue
Scientific name
Festuca gautieri
( Hack. ) K. Right.

The bearskin fescue ( Festuca gautieri , Syn. : Festuca scoparia ), commonly also called bearskin grass called, is a plant from the family of the sweet grasses (Poaceae), mainly as ornamental grass is known in gardens.

description

The bearskin fescue is a perennial, hibernating green grass with about 20 to 50 centimeters high and bare stalks that have a diameter of 0.9 to 1.7 millimeters. It is dense clump-shaped growth with very thin, bristly to rush-shaped, folded and tubular closed leaves for a third to three quarters of the length . The leaf blades carry five to seven vascular bundles . The ligules are membranous, somewhat fringed and reach about 0.5 to 1 millimeter in length.

inflorescence

The yellow-green inflorescence is a panicle that reaches about 4.5 to 7 centimeters in length. The panicle branches are hairy and each carry an elongated, flattened spikelet that is about 9 to 11 millimeters long. The glumes (Glumae) are keeled and shorter than the spikelets, the lower one is one-nerved, the upper one is three-nerved and 4.9 to 5.8 millimeters long. The five annoying lemmas (lemma) reach length from 6 to 7.3 millimeters. The flowering period extends from June to July.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14 or 28.

Distribution and location

The bearskin fescue is widespread in southwest Europe, especially in the Pyrenees . Its distribution area extends from northern Morocco through eastern and northeastern Spain to southwestern France. It needs well-drained, but moisture-retaining soil in a partially shaded location.

Others

The bearskin fescue forms a hybrid with the fescue species Festuca eskia , called Festuca × picoeuropeana Nava.

Due to its attractive, almost spherical shape, the bearskin fescue is used as an ornamental plant in gardening and landscaping . It is undemanding and particularly suitable in rock gardens and in the heather garden as well as for planting in pots .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tropicos. [1]
2. ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Festuca gautieri. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved November 9, 2016.
3. ^ MI Gutierrez Villarias, HS Nava Fernandez, J. Homet Garcia-Cernuda: The Correct Name of the Hybrid between Festuca gautieri and Festuca eskia (Poaceae) . Taxon, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Feb. 1992), pp. 76-77

Web links

• Brief description at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (English)