72 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 
RED FESCUE (Festuca rubra L.) 
Plate II; Seeds, Plate 26, Fig. 18. 
Other English name: Creeping Fescue. 
Botanical description: Red Fescue is perennial with long, 
creeping, underground rootstocks, from the joints of which the 
overground stems and shoots arise. For this reason no real tufts are 
formed, but more or less extended mats with scattered stems develop. 
The latter are from eighteen to thirty-six inches high, smooth and 
round. Secondary shoots arise from buds within the sheaths of old 
basal leaves. When developing, the shoots break through the sheaths 
at their base, tearing them into strips. The ragged brown scales and 
threads, which are always present at the base of the stems and 
shoots of Red Fescue, represent the remnants of the sheaths. Red 
Fescue can easily be distinguished from Sheep’s Fescue by these 
tattered sheaths. The leaves are rolled up in the bud, as in Sheep’s 
Fescue; but while in the latter all the leaves are permanently rolled 
up, in Red Fescue only the basal ones persist in that condition, the 
stem leaves being flat when developed except in very dry, hot 
weather. The flowers are in a panicle like that of Sheep’s Fescue, 
although as a rule it is larger and often a little nodding. The spike- 
lets, each of which contains from four to six flowers, are variously 
coloured but often reddish-brown—hence the name Red Fescue. The 
outer glume of the flower has an awn, which is generally longer than 
in Sheep’s Fescue. 
Geographical distribution: It is distributed about the same 
as Sheep’s Fescue. 
Habitat: Red Fescue grows naturally in meadows and pastures, 
along seashores and on mountains, and in open fields as well as in 
woods. 
Cultural conditions: It is a little more particular about the 
soil than is Sheep’s Fescue; it does not thrive in extremely dry or 
too compact land, or where it cannot develop its creeping root 
system. It does best in loose, sandy or gravelly soil, when sufficient 
moisture is available. It is fairly resistant to drought, although not 
in the same degree as is Sheep’s Fescue, and it stands severe cold 
without injury. Its creeping root system being superficial, it is able 
to develop in shallow soil. 
