''Festuca ovina'', sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue (''Festuca trachyphylla'').

General description

It is a

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

sometimes found in acidic ground, and in mountain pasture, throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

(with the exception of some Mediterranean areas) and eastwards across much of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

; it has also been introduced to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. It is one of the defining species of the

British NVC community CG2 NVC community CG2 (''Festuca ovina - Avenula pratensis'' grassland) is one of the Calcicolous grasslands in the British National Vegetation Classification system, calcicolous grassland Terminology used in connection with the British National Vegeta ...

, i.e. ''Festuca ovina'' – '' Avenula pratensis''

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

, one of the alkaline grassland communities. However, the species has a wide ecological tolerance in the UK, occurring on both basic and acid soils, as well as old mining sites and spoil heaps that are contaminated with heavy metals. Sheep's fescue is a densely tufted perennial grass. Its greyish-green

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are short and bristle-like. The

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 ...

s are both slightly feathery and a bit one-sided. It flowers from May until June, and is

wind-pollinated Anemophily or wind pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind. Almost all gymnosperms are anemophilous, as are many plants in the order Poales, including Poaceae, grasses, Cyperaceae, sedges, and Juncaceae, rushes. ...

. It has no rhizomes. Sheep's fescue is a drought-resistant grass, commonly found on poor, well-drained mineral soil. It is sometimes used as a

drought-tolerant In botany, drought tolerance is the ability by which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tole ...

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

grass. The great ability to adapt to poor soils is due to

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

l fungi, which increase the

absorption of water In higher plants water and minerals are absorbed through root hairs which are in contact with soil water and from the root hairs zone a little the root tips. Active absorption Active absorption refers to the absorption of water by roots with t ...

and nutrients and also are potential determinants of plant community structure. The

symbiosis Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction, between two organisms of different species. The two organisms, termed symbionts, can fo ...

with fungi increases mineral, nitrogen and phosphate absorption, thanks to fungal

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

e that expand deeply in the soil and cover plant roots, increasing the exchange surface. The symbiosis also makes every plant interconnected with the surrounding plants, making possible the exchange of nutrients between plants far from each other. More colourful garden varieties with blue-grey foliage are available.

Wildlife value

This is one of the food plants for the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of several butterflies and moths, including the

gatekeeper A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate or bouncer, or more abstractly, controls who is granted access to a category or status. Gatekeepers assess who is "in or out", in the classic words of manage ...

and the meadow brown, the small heath, and the

grass moth Crambidae comprises the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, with the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies ...

'' Agriphila inquinatella''.

Photos

Image:Ruig schapengras plant (Festuca ovina subsp. hirtula).jpg, ''Festuca ovina'' subsp. ''hirtula'' plants Image:Ruig schapengras bloeiwijze (Festuca ovina subsp. hirtula).jpg, ''Festuca ovina'' subsp. ''hirtula'' inflorescens Image:Ruig schapengras aartjes (Festuca ovina subsp. hirtula).jpg, ''Festuca ovina'' subsp. ''hirtula'' spikelets Image:Ruig schapengras ligula (Festuca ovina subsp. hirtula).jpg, ''Festuca ovina'' subsp. ''hirtula'' ligula Image:Sheep fescue.jpg, Showing its tufted nature

Illustrations

Image:Illustration_Festuca_ovina0.jpg Image:Festuca spp Sturm42.jpg

References

ovina Grasses of Asia Grasses of Europe Grasses of China Grasses of Russia Flora of Central Asia Flora of Eastern Europe Flora of Northeast Asia Flora of Western Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Fodder Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Europe Lawn grasses Groundcovers Ornamental grass {{Pooideae-stub