''Festuca occidentalis'' is a species of grass known as western fescue. It is native to much of the northern half of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and is most widely distributed in the west. It is most often found in forest and woodland habitat. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''occidentalis'' is Latin, meaning "western".

Description

''Festuca occidentalis'' is a tufted fescue that lacks

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s. The smooth and shiny culms are tall. Culms have two exposed nodes and have glabrous internodes. The shoots are intravaginal. The leaf sheaths are glabrescent and rounded with a prominent midvein. The position of the auricle is marked by a distinct swelling. The minutely erose

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses (Poaceae) and sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla, such as that of a ...

is long. The basal leaves are capillary and long. In cross section, the leaf blades are wide and thick, with three large veins and one to five ribs. The basal offshoots are erect, arising from the tops of the pale brown sheaths. The lax, subsecund, flexuous

panicle 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 panicle are of ...

is long. The panicle has two unequal and strongly reflexed branches at the lower node, with branches long bearing minute trichomes. The three to five flowered spikelets are long. The

rachilla Rachilla may refer to the following topics in botany: * Rachilla (floral axis) A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the flowers of grasses, sedges and some other Monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikele ...

is visible at anthesis and internodes are long. The unequal glumes are narrow and acute. The lower glume is long with one vein, and the upper glume is long with one to two veins. The membranaceous, oblong to lanceolate

lemma Lemma may refer to: Language and linguistics * Lemma (morphology), the canonical, dictionary or citation form of a word * Lemma (psycholinguistics), a mental abstraction of a word about to be uttered Science and mathematics * Lemma (botany), a ...

s are long, with slender, flexuous awns long. Paleas have inflexed sides that meet in the middle, measuring long. Lodicules are toothed and lack trichomes.

Anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s are long. The

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is pubescent at its apex. It flowers from late June into July.

Distribution and habitat

''Festuca occidentalis'' occurs in the northern United States from the Bruce Peninsula to northern Michigan and eastern Wisconsin, and from Montreal and British Columbia south to Wyoming and California. It grows in dry to moist woods, thickets, and rocky slopes. It grows up to in elevation.

References

External links

''Festuca occidentalis'' — U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3092730

occidentalis This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...

Grasses of Canada Grasses of the United States