''Lolium giganteum'', giant fescue, is a woodland

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

that grows on neutral to base-rich soils, often near streams or other damp places. It is native to Europe and much of Asia and has been introduced to parts of North America. Most publications have used the names ''Festuca gigantea'' or, more recently, ''Schedonorus giganteus'' for this species, but DNA studies appear to have settled a long debate that it should be included within the genus ''Lolium'' instead.

Description

Giant fescue is a loosely tufted

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

with erect to spreading hollow flowering stems up to about 1.4 m (4 ft) tall (exceptionally up to 165 cm), with purple nodes. They are quite hairless (glabrous), including the leaf sheaths. At the top of the sheath is a short (2 mm) ligule and pointed auricles that can wrap around the stem. The leaf blade is flat, up to about 15 mm wide, and glabrous. The tillers (non-flowering stems) are typically shorter but otherwise similar to the culms. Flowering typically occurs in late summer, from mid-July until early September, with a loose, nodding open

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

about 40 cm (18 inches) long. The branches are normally in pairs with long stalks below the numerous (up to about 16)

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the sp ...

. Each spikelet is 10-17 mm long and has between 4 and 8 bisexual florets and two short, unequal glumes. The lower glume typically has only 1 nerve whereas the upper one has 3. The lemmas have long (up to 22 mm) awns arising from the back just below the tip. Each floret has 3

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s with anthers about 3 mm long. The fruit is a nut or

caryopsis In botany, a caryopsis () is a type of simple fruit—one that is monocarpellate (formed from a single carpel) and indehiscent (not opening at maturity) and resembles an achene, except that in a caryopsis the pericarp is fused with the thin s ...

with the seed tightly enclosed by the hardened lemma and palea.

Taxonomy

This species was originally included within the genus ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ...

'', owing to the similarity of the flowers and inflorescences. However, there has been much debate since 1898 about its relationship to the genus ''

Lolium ''Lolium'' is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera. They are characterized by bunch-like growth habits. ''Lolium'' ...

'', largely because of hybridization with ''

Lolium perenne ''Lolium perenne'', common name perennial ryegrass, English ryegrass, winter ryegrass, or ray grass, is a grass from the family Poaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but is widely cultivated and naturalised around the world. ...

'' (species in separate genera are far less likely to form hybrids than those within the same genus). Recent DNA studies have shown that it should indeed be considered a ryegrass (''Lolium'') rather than a fescue (''Festuca'') because these species are more closely related to each other, despite the fact that ryegrasses have inflorescences of spikes rather than racemes. Its chromosome number is 2n = 42. Giant fescue produces fertile hybrids with

perennial ryegrass ''Lolium perenne'', common name perennial ryegrass, English ryegrass, winter ryegrass, or ray grass, is a Poaceae, grass from the family Poaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but is widely cultivated and naturalised around th ...

and

Italian ryegrass ''Lolium multiflorum'' (Italian rye-grass, annual ryegrass) is a ryegrass native to temperate Europe, though its precise native range is unknown. It is a herbaceous annual, biennial, or perennial grass that is grown for silage, and as a cover cr ...

, hence the confusion with its phylogeny and identification.

Habitat and ecology

It is a common plant found especially on heavy, neutral and calcareous soils, in woodland, hedge banks and shady places. It is said to grow best in moist woods.

Nutrition value

Cattle and horses will readily eat its abundant foliage.

Similar species

Festuca altissima ''Festuca altissima'', also known as the wood fescue, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Poaceae. It was first described in 1789. Its native range is Europe to Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical ...

'' is similar but is found in rocky woods, has spikelets which droop much more but are half as long, and ligules 3mm long.page 27 The Observers book of Grasses, Sedges and Rushes, by Francis Rose, published 1976,

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q159968 Pooideae