Festuca rubra subsp. rubra
Common name
red fescue
Family
Poaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Grasses
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
FESRSR
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Features
Tufted perennial grass spreading from rhizomes. Leaves arise from the base and have sheath 3-7 cm, often with bright red veins, and an almost glabrous blade of 5-25 cm long and 0.5-2 mm wide, dark to bluish green. Knob-like swellings at junction of blade and sheath. Flowering culm up to 45 cm tall, pannicle usually 5-10 cm tall, closely held clusters of spikelets.
Similar taxa
F. novae-zealandae is similar but has more wiry leaf blades up to 60 cm long.
Year naturalised
1872
Origin
Europe
Etymology
festuca: From the Latin festuca ‘stem’ or ‘blade of grass’
rubra: Red
Reason For Introduction
Agricultural.