rootfast

Index / Search / Festuca rubra

§1 Plant

Festuca rubra L.

vernacular red fescue — species · Poaceae

USDA
FERU2
GBIF
2704922
Rank
species
red fescue (Festuca rubra)
Platephotograph · V.S. VolkotrubCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Festuca
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • GL Greenland Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b

County-level range

· 491 counties across 37 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 2 Both · 489 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-43 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
30–70 in/yr
pH range
5–7.5
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
High
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
454,087
Propagation
seed, sod
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 491 counties across 37 states/territories.

Alaska view state ↗ 23 B ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 4 B ▾
California view state ↗ 36 B ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 16 B ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 B ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 B ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 5 B ▾
Hawaii view state ↗ 2 I ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 11 B ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 9 B ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 9 B ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 13 B ▾
Maine view state ↗ 16 B ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 B ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 25 B ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 11 B ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 10 B ▾
Montana view state ↗ 19 B ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 1 B ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 11 B ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 9 B ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 10 B ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 9 B ▾
New York view state ↗ 21 B ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 10 B ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 2 B ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 33 B ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 28 B ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 B ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 12 B ▾
Texas view state ↗ 1 B ▾
Utah view state ↗ 6 B ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 8 B ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 30 B ▾
Washington view state ↗ 32 B ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 32 B ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 7 B ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/FERU2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2704922 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z