California Fescue

California fescue

More info for the terms: caryopsis, fruit

California fescue is a native, perennial bunchgrass [5,9]. Culms are
16 to 47 inches (40-120 cm) long [6,9,10]. Leaf blades are firm,
scabrous, and 4 to 39 inches (10-100 cm) long [5]. The inflorescence is
an open sparsely branched panicle 4 to 12 inches (10-30 cm) long; the
branches usually occur in pairs [5,6]. Spikelets are four to six
flowered [5,9]. The lemma is acuminate or short awned [6,7]. The fruit
is a caryopsis. California fescue does not produce rhizomes [5].

California fescue occurs in the Coast Ranges from southwestern Oregon to
San Luis Obispo County, California [9]. It occurs in the Cascade Range
from Clackamas County, Oregon, south into California to the north
and central Sierra Nevada [5,6,7]. Festuca californica var. parishii
occurs as a disjunct population in the San Bernardino Mountains,
California [5,10].

More info for the terms: culm, fire regime

California fescue has basal culm buds which may sprout after aerial
portions are burned. California fescue has densely clumped stems with
conspicuous dead leaf sheaths at the plant base [5]. If thick tufts
form, they may protect the basal buds from fire damage.

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

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More info for the term: hemicryptophyte

hemicryptophyte

California fescue occurs on open dry ground, chaparral [5,9], thickets,
open forests [5,6], wood borders, shaded places [9], and moist
streambanks [7]. It occurs at elevations below 6,500 feet (1,981 m)
[5,9,10].

Festuca californica var. parishii occurs on dry benches at elevations
of 2,500 to 6,500 feet (762-1,981 m) [10].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

229 Pacific Douglas-fir
232 Redwood
234 Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
245 Pacific ponderosa pine
255 California coast live oak

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES36 Mountain grasslands

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

K005 Mixed conifer forest
K006 Redwood forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K029 California mixed evergreen forest
K030 California oakwoods
K033 Chaparral
K034 Montane chaparral
K047 Fescue - oatgrass

California fescue culms and leaves are probably killed by fire during
the growing season.

California fescue is associated with tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus) in
the Coast Ranges of California and southwestern Oregon. Other species
associated with California fescue in these areas include chinquapin
(Chrysolepsis chrysophylla), canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepsis),
California black oak (Q. kelloggii), California bay (Umbellularia
californica), blueblossom (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus), California hazel
(Corylus cornuta var. californica), salal (Gaultheria shallon), Pacific
bayberry (Myrica californica), Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron
macrophyllum), flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), thimbleberry (Rubus
parviflorus), evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), prince's-pine
(Chimaphila umbellata var. occidentalis), dwarf Oregon-grape (Berberis
nervosa), bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare), western whipplea (Whipplea
modesta), California brome (Bromus carinatus), and California sweetgrass
(Hierochloe occidentalis) [13].

More info for the term: graminoid

Graminoid

California fescue cultivars are available in the horticultural trade [5].

CA OR

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California fescue blooms from April to July [9].

Festuca californica var. parishii blooms from May to July [10].

More info for the terms: graminoid, secondary colonizer

Tussock graminoid
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the term: seed

California fescue sprouts from perennating buds at the base of the
culms. It also reproduces by seed [5].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains

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Facultative Seral Species

California fescue grows in both open and shaded areas [5,6,7,9].

The currently accepted scientific name of California fescue is Festuca
californica Vasey [5,6,7,9]. It is in the family Poaceae. Recognized
varieties are as follows [5,6,10]:

F. c. var. californica
F. c. var. parishii (Piper) Hitchc.

More info for the terms: cover, grassland, restoration

California fescue is recommended for stabilizing or restoring disturbed
or degraded areas, for erosion control, and for wildlife food and cover [5].

The Soil Conservation Service is investigating California fescue for
grassland habitat restoration in California [1].

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or cluster ed, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades very narrow or filiform, less than 2 mm wide, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea longer than lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, F ruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Festuca californica is a species of grass known by the common name California fescue.

This fescue species is native to the U.S. states of California and Oregon, where it is a member of many plant communities, including chaparral and oak woodlands.