View source for Fescue

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Poaceae
|genus=Festuca
|common_name=Fescue
|name_ref=Wikipedia
|habit=grass
|Temp Metric=°F
|image=Festuca cinerea a1.jpg
|image_width=240
|image_caption=Festuca cinerea
}}
Festuca (ancient Latin name for a kind of grass). Gramineae. Fescue-grass. Annual or perennial grasses grown for ornament or as pasture grasses.

Blades narrow: infl. few-fld., paniculate; spikelets 2- to several-fld.; lemmas firm, rounded on the back, usually acute or awned from the tip.—Species about 100, in the temperate and cooler parts of the world.

'''Festuce''' ('''''Festuca''''') is a [[genus]] of about 300 [[species]] of [[perennial plant|perennial]] tufted [[grass]]es, belonging to the grass [[family (biology)|family]] [[Poaceae]] (subfamily [[Pooideae]]). The genus has a [[cosmopolitan distribution]], although the majority of the species are found in cool temperate areas, such as the transition zone and Canada<ref>[http://www.fescue.com/ Tall Fescue Grasses & Fine Fescues]</ref>. The genus is closely related to [[ryegrass]] (''[[Lolium]]''), and recent evidence from [[phylogeny|phylogenetic]] studies using [[DNA sequencing]] of plant [[mitochondrium|mitochondrial]] [[DNA]] shows that the genus lacks [[monophyly]]. As a result plant [[taxonomist]]s have placed several species, including the forage grasses, tall fescue and meadow fescue, formerly belonging to the genus ''Festuca'' into the genus ''Lolium''.<ref name="Darbyshire">{{cite journal|author=Darbyshire, S J|year= 1993|title=Realignment of ''Festuca'' subgenus ''Schedonorus'' with the genus ''Lolium'' (Poaceae)|journal=Novon|volume=3|pages=239–243|doi=10.2307/3391460}}</ref>

Fescues range from small grasses only 10&nbsp;cm tall or less with very fine thread-like [[leaf|leaves]] less than 1&nbsp;mm wide, to tall grasses up to 2 m tall with large leaves up to 60&nbsp;cm (2 ft) long and 2&nbsp;cm (3/4 in.) broad.

Fescue [[pollen]] is a significant contributor to [[hay fever]].