Festuca arundinacea Schreb., Poaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Festuca elatior L., Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub

Common name(s): [more details]

English: alta fescue, coarse fescue, reed fescue, tall fescue

French: faux-roseau, fétuque élevée, fétuque roseau

Spanish: cañuela alta, festuca cañosa

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Tall robust tussock forming perennial, commonly of river beds. Prophyll 2.5 cm or more, keels antrorsely prickle-toothed and with mixed short hairs. Branching intravaginal and extravaginal when shortly rhizomatous. Leaf-sheath 5-20 cm, striate, finely scabrid or smooth becoming scabrid near ligule. Ligule 0.5-1-3 mm, firm. Auricles clasping 0.7-1.5 mm, hairs c. 0.3 mm. Leaf-blade 10-100 cm x 5-10 mm wide, many-ribbed, midrib prominent, finely antrorsely scabrid below becoming very scabrid above, margins finely prickle-toothed. Culm to 1.5 m, stout, nodes conspicuous, dark, constricted, internodes glabrous. Panicle to 40 cm, erect or nodding, with 10 or more nodes of many spikelets; basal branches to 20 cm, binate, one long, naked below, other shorter with spikelets to base, other nodes with similar binate branches becoming shorter and eventually solitary near apex or solitary throughout and spikelets to base of branches; rachis smooth below becoming scabrid above pedicels and branches with prominent prickle-teeth. Spikelets 10-15 mm, narrow, of 4-7 florets. Glumes unequal, shortly awned, keel scabrid above otherwise smooth, margins membranous; lower 3-8 mm, 1-nerved, upper 4-9 mm, 3-nerved. Lemma 7-10 mm, 5-nerved, rounded, fine prickle-teeth on central and lateral nerves, margins membranous shortly toothed throughout broadly membranous above terminating in small (0.3-0.6 mm) hyaline prickled lobes; awn 1-2.5 mm, visible through apical lobes. Palea ≥ lemma, 7-10 x 1.5 mm wide, apex bifid ciliate, keels toothed ± to base, interkeel glabrous. Callus 0.25 mm, margin hairs 0 or few; articulation flat. Rachilla 1.5 -1.75 mm, stiff hairs scattered throughout. Lodicules 0.75-1.6 mm, > ovary, deeply to ± irregularly lobed, glabrous. Anthers 3-4 mm, caudate. Gynoecium: ovary 0.6-1.0 mm, apex glabrous; stigma-styles subterminal, 1.8-3.0 mm, hairs almost to base. Caryopsis 3 mm, obovate, adherent to palea; embryo 1 mm; hilum 2 mm"  (Edgar & Connor, 2000; p. 205)

"This species is distinguished by its flat leaf blades 3-12 mm wide, ciliate auricles, and lemma 7-10 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1547).

Description from World Grass Species.

Habitat/ecology:  "Grass- and heathland, woodland, riparian habitats, freshwater and saline wetlands.  A grass native in moist forests and grassland, reed swamps, riparian habitats, and seashores.  It is a persistent grass that strongly competes with native species.  It forms dense and species poor stands where invasive that displace native herbaceous vegetation and reduce species richness.  The grass is mostly infected with an endophytic fungus making it more drought tolerant and increasing its nitrogen utilization efficiency"  (Weber, 2003; p. 168).

In Hawaii, "adventive in pastures and open grasslands, 820-1,490 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1547).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Azores, northern Africa, western and central Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1547) Voucher cited: Ewart III 204 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Shannon, Robynn K./Herbst, Derral R. (1997) (p. 60) Vouchers cited: Hobdy 3586 (BISH), Flynn et al. 3976 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (p. 21) East Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer & F. Duvall H30138
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. (2004) (p. 10) Voucher cited: K. Kawelo s.n. (BISH 074671)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 80)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 205) As. Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.); Holub; "river beds and banks, and waste places; grown in pastures for summer herbage".

Control: 

Physical:  "Heavy infestations are controlled by prescribed burning at the flowering stage".

Chemical:  "Small infestations are controlled by applying glyphosate, metsulfuron, or imazapic before flowers appear"  (Weber, 2003; p. 168).

Additional information:  Additional online information about Festuca arundinacea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Festuca arundinacea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 2. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 137 pp. + plates.

Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. 2004. New Hawaiian plant records for 2002-2003. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 78:3-12.

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2003. New plant records from Maui and Hawai‘i Counties. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 73:3-30.

U. S. Government. 2006. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Wagner, Warren L./Shannon, Robynn K./Herbst, Derral R. 1997. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1996. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 48:51-65.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.