Bearded Fescue

bearded fescue
nodding fescue

Bearded fescue is a native, perennial bunchgrass [8,14,24]. Culms are
16 to 32 inches (40-80 cm) tall [14,24]. Leaf blades are drooping, flat
or loosely rolled, and 4 to 12 inches (10-30 cm) long [9]. The
inflorescence is an open, loose panicle 4 to 16 inches (10-40 cm) long
[9,24]. Bearded fescue is occasionally stoloniferous in Utah [9], and
California plants reportedly have short rhizomes [24].

Bearded fescue occurs from Alaska south to northern California and east
to Alberta, Montana, Wyoming, and western South Dakota [8,9,14,24,25].

More info for the terms: culm, fire regime, fire-return interval

Bearded fescue grows best in plant communities that burn infrequently,
but it can grow on open, disturbed sites. Western hemlock, redwood, and
Pacific silver fir forests, in which bearded fescue occurs, have
fire-return intervals of 500 years or more [26]. The fire-return
interval varies with respect to location, associated species, and
climate.

Bearded fescue has basal culm buds and rhizomes which may sprout after
aerial portions are burned. Bearded fescue forms densely clumped stems
with persistent dead leaf sheaths at the plant base [9,14]. 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".

More info for the terms: fire management, forest, fuel, mesic, natural, prescribed fire, prescribed natural fire

Agee [26] summarizes fire management options in Pacific Northwest
forests where bearded fescue occurs. In western hemlock forests no
natural areas are large enough to allow a free-ranging fire, and few
will allow prescribed natural fire. Also, much of the protected western
hemlock forest is within conservation areas for the northern spotted owl
and is being managed to preserve owl habitat. Without fire, the
proportion of Douglas-fir in natural stands will decline, particularly
on more mesic sites, and western hemlock will assume a more important
role. In Pacific silver fir forests fire is not a useful management
option. Under controllable conditions, prescribed fires will not
spread. As a fuel reduction tool, prescribed fire usually increases
dead fuel loadings [26].

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More info for the term: hemicryptophyte

Hemicryptophyte

More info for the term: mesic

Bearded fescue occurs on mesic to moist sites in meadows, thickets,
forests, shaded places, coastal mountain valleys, wet benches, terraces
and streambanks [6,8,9,14,24]. It is most commonly found in soils
derived from sandstone, shale, and conglomerates [4,15].

Elevations for bearded fescue in some western states are as follows:

feet meters

California less than 8,250 less than 2,500 [9]
Utah 5,544-7,656 1,680-2,320 [24]
Washington 1,815-4,820 550-1,460 [6]

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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):

205 Mountain hemlock
217 Aspen
221 Red alder
223 Sitka spruce
224 Western hemlock
225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
227 Western redcedar - western hemlock
228 Western redcedar
229 Pacific Douglas-fir
230 Douglas-fir - western hemlock
232 Redwood
243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer

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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
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows

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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

K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K005 Mixed conifer forest
K006 Redwood forest
K025 Alder - ash forest
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K047 Fescue - oatgrass
K052 Alpine meadows and barren

Bearded fescue culms, leaves, and stolons are probably killed by fire.
Plants with rhizomes are probably only top-killed.

Bearded fescue is eaten by grizzly bears in British Columbia [1]. The
western hemlock/devil's club and red alder/salmonberry habitat types of
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, which include bearded fescue,
provide important habitat for deer, elk, and mountain beaver [6].

More info for the terms: association, fern, forest, vine

Bearded fescue is a member of maple-quaking aspen (Acer spp.-Populus
tremuloides), quaking aspen-mountain brush, and aspen-spruce-fir
(Picea-Abies spp.) communities in the mountains of northern Utah [24].
It is found in stands dominated by Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) in Red
Butte Canyon, Utah [4].

Bearded fescue is found in upland coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
forests of northern California and montane coniferous forests of the
Sierra Nevada, California [15,17].

Bearded fescue is commonly found in the Sitka spruce/devil's club (Picea
sitchensis/Oplopanax horridus) association in British Columbia and the
Pacific Northwest [1]. It is also found in the coastal Douglas-fir
(Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) and western hemlock (Tsuga
heterophylla) zones of British Columbia [19]. On the Saturna Island
Ecological Reserve, British Columbia, bearded fescue is a member of a
virgin Douglas-fir forest [22].

Bearded fescue is a common understory species in red alder (Alnus rubra)
communities in the central Oregon Coast Range [3]. In Washington,
bearded fescue occurs in western hemlock/vanillaleaf (Achlys triphylla),
western hemlock/devil's club, red alder/salmonberry (Alnus rubra/Rubus
spectabilis), and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis)/devil's club
associations [6]. At Mount St. Helens, Washington, in the airfall area
(the area surrounding the immediate devastated area), bearded fescue is
one of the dominant riparian herbs [16].

Species commonly associated with bearded fescue not previously mentioned
in Distribution and Occurrence include noble fir (Abies procera),
Alaska-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), vine maple (Acer circinatum),
dwarf Oregon-grape (Berberis nervosa), red huckleberry (Vaccinium
parviflorum), Alaska blueberry (V. alaskensis), baldhip rose (Rosa
gymnocarpa), salal (Gaultheria shallon), western fescue (Festuca
occidentalis), blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus), evergreen violet (Viola
sempervirens), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), bunchberry (Cornus
canadensis), oneleaf foamflower (Tiarella unifoliata), sweet-scented
bedstraw (Galium trifolium), starry Solomon-seal (Smilacina stellata),
thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), California hazel (Corylus cornuta var.
californica), oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), Oregon oxalis (Oxalis
oregana), western sword fern (Polystichum munitum), and bracken fern
(Pteridium aquilinum) [1,3,6,18,22].

More info for the term: graminoid

Graminoid

AK CA ID MT OR SD UT WA WY AB
BC

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Bearded fescue blooms from June to August in California [17].

Bearded fescue may sprout following some fires.

More info for the terms: graminoid, herb, rhizome, root crown, secondary colonizer, tussock

Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Surface rhizome/chamaephytic root crown
Tussock graminoid
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the term: seed

Bearded fescue may sprout from rhizomes and perennating buds at the base
of the culms. It also reproduces by seed [9,24].

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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
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
15 Black Hills Uplift

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Facultative Seral Species

Bearded fescue grows in both open and shaded areas [8,9,17], but does
best in full or partial shade [9]. In British Columbia, bearded fescue
occurs as a pioneer species in communities disturbed by avalanches [1].

The currently accepted scientific name of bearded fescue is Festuca
subulata Trin. [9,14,24]]. There are no recognized infrataxa.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, 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 and blade differen tiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blade auriculate, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, 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 mucronate, very shortly beaked or awned, less than 1-2 mm, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, 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, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Festuca subulata is a species of grass known by the common names bearded fescue and nodding fescue. It is native to the northwestern quarter of North America, from Alaska to South Dakota to northern California, where it is most often found in moist mountain forests.

This fescue is a loosely clumping perennial grass with small rhizomes. The stems are generally between 40 and 80 centimeters in height and have drooping leaves. The inflorescence has loosely clustered spikelets. The plant reproduces by seed and rhizome and it sometimes spreads via stolon.