Montana Field Guide

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Montana Field Guides

Home - Other Field Guides
- Kingdom - Plants - Plantae
  - Division - Flowering Plants - Anthophyta
    - Class - Monocots - Monocotyledoneae
      - Order - Grasses/Sedges - Cyperales
        
        Family - Grasses - Poaceae
        
        Species - Nodding Fescue - Festuca subulata

Nodding Fescue - Festuca subulata

Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S3S4
C-value: 7

Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:

External Links

General Description

Perennial bunchgrass. Stems loosely bunched, 60–100 cm. Leaves: blades 4–10 mm wide, flat. Inflorescence an open panicle with drooping branches, 8–25 cm long. Spikelets 7–10 mm long with 3 to 5 florets. Lemmas with an awn 5–15 mm long (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Range Comments

Throughout most of western North America and extending east into SD (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database

Number of Observations: 39

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Relative Density

Recency

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

Habitat

Open forest, riparian woodlands; valleys, montane (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

References

Literature Cited AboveLegend: View Online Publication
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
Nodding Fescue — Festuca subulata. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Retrieved on April 18, 2024, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=PMPOA2V0T0