Festuca (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae. They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of 10–200 cm (4–79 in) and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. The genus is closely related to ryegrass (Lolium), and recent evidence from phylogenetic studies using DNA sequencing of plant mitochondrial DNA shows that the genus lacks monophyly. As a result, plant taxonomists have moved several species, including the forage grasses tall fescue and meadow fescue, from the genus Festuca into the genus Lolium, or alternatively into the segregate genus Schedonorus.
Festuca ovina, sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a species of grass. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue.
Festuca altaica, also known as the altai fescue, or the northern rough fescue, is a perennial bunchgrass with a wide native distribution in the Arctic, from central Asia to eastern North America. It was first described in 1829 by Carl Bernhard von Trinius. It is under the synonym F. scabrella, the rough fescue.
Festuca rubra is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue, creeping red fescue or the rush-leaf fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to well-drained soils in cool, temperate climates; it prefers shadier areas and is often planted for its shade tolerance. Wild animals browse it, but it has not been important for domestic forage due to low productivity and palatability. It is also an ornamental plant for gardens.
Festuca idahoensis is a species of grass known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common. It can be found in many ecosystems, from shady forests to open plains grasslands.
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.
Festuca vivipara, the viviparous sheep's-fescue, is a species of grass native to northern Europe, northern Asia, and subarctic North America. The specific epithet vivipara is Latin, referring to the florets' alteration to leafy tufts. The plant can have a diploid number of 28, 49, 56, or 63, though numbers of 21, 35, and 42 have also been reported.
Oeneis bore, the white-veined Arctic or Arctic grayling, is a butterfly, a species of Satyrinae that occurs in North America and Asia.
Coregonus tugun, the tugun, is a species freshwater whitefish from rivers draining to the Arctic Ocean. It is one of the several species of Siberian whitefishes, with a distribution encompassing rivers from the Ob in the west to the Yana River in the east. In the Lower Ob basin, it inhabits in all the Ural tributaries. It never enters the sea.
The Pamir alpine desert and tundra ecoregion covers the high plateau of the Pamir Mountains, at the central meeting of the great mountain ranges of Central Asia: Himalaya, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Kunlun, and Tian Shan. It is a region of relatively high biodiversity due to its central location and high elevation differentials, but it also acts as a barrier between the climate and habitats of north and south Asia.
Festuca baffinensis also called the Baffin Island fescue is a species of grass in the Poaceae family. The name was published in Bulletin of the National Museum of Canada in 1940. The specific name 'baffinensis' was named after Baffin Island in canada. This species is native Subarctic Northern Hemisphere to W. Central U.S.A. It was first described in 1940 by Polunin.
Festuca glacialis is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. This species is native to France, and Spain. It is perennial and prefers subalpine or subarctic biomes. Festuca glacialis was first described in 1890.
Festuca hyperborea also known as the boreal fescue, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. This species is native to Greenland, Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk, Labrador, Magadan, North European Russia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Québec, Svalbard, Yakutskiya, and Yukon. It is perennial and mainly grows in subalpine or subarctic biomes. Festuca hyperborea was first described in 1957.
Festuca kurtziana is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to Argentina, and Central Chile. It is perennial and mainly grows on subalpine or subarctic biomes. It was first published in 1927.
Festuca matthewsii, also known as Matthew's fescue, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to the South Island of New Zealand. It is perennial and mainly grows on subalpine or subarctic biomes. Festuca matthewsii was first described by Eduard Hackel in 1903 as Festuca ovina subsp. matthewsii, and identified as a species by Thomas Cheeseman in the posthumously released second edition of the Manual of the New Zealand Flora in 1925.
Festuca chrysophylla is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to Peru, northwestern Argentina, and north central Chile. It grows in subalpine or subarctic biomes. It was first described in 1891.
Festuca richardsonii is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native northern Eurasia and North America, from Scandinavia to Pakistan and eastern Siberia, and Alaska, Canada, and the northwestern United States. It is perennial and grows in subarctic or subalpine biomes. It was first described in 1840.
Festuca rigescens is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and northern and central Chile. It is perennial and grows in subalpine or subarctic biomes. It was first described in 1833.
Festuca sororia is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to California, Missouri and New Mexico. It is perennial and prefers to grow in subalpine or subarctic biomes. It was first described in 1913.
