Festuca ovina

Plant Characteristics
Habit		grass
Height:	⇕	24 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 24.
Width:	⇔	16 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 16.
Bloom:	❀	early summer, mid summer, late summer

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun, part-sun
Features:	✓	flowers
USDA Zones:		5 to 9
Flower features:	❀	blue

Scientific Names
Poaceae >	Festuca >	ovina >

Sheep's Fescue or Sheep Fescue (Festuca ovina) is a species of grass.

General Description

It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic bogs, for example in the Portlethen Moss, Scotland and mountain pasture, throughout Europe (with the exception of some Mediterranean areas) and eastwards across much of Asia; it has also been introduced to North America ^[1].

It is sometimes used as a drought-tolerant lawn grass.^[2]

Sheep's fescue is a densely tufted perennial grass. Its greyish green leaves are short and bristle-like. The panicles are both slightly feathery and a bit one-sided. It flowers from May until June, and is wind pollinated.

This is one of the food plants for the caterpillars of several butterflies and moths, including the Gatekeeper and the Meadow Brown, the Small Heath, and the grass moth Agriphila inquinatella.

Sheep's fescue is a drought-resistant grass, commonly found on poor, well-drained mineral soil. More colourful garden varieties with blue-grey foliage are available.

The Gatekeeper Butterfly feeds on it.

Read about Festuca ovina in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Festuca ovina, Linn. Sheep's Fescue. Six to 20 in.: panicle contracted after flowering, 2-4 in. long. Eu.—Sown in mixtures for pastures. ^CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

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Species

Gallery

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References

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

w:Festuca ovina. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
Festuca ovina QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)

↑ "Distribution map for Festuca ovina". Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm.
↑ Fuller, Sherry. "Choosing the right drought-tolerant lawn can save water". SWColoradohome.com.

[1] "Distribution map for Festuca ovina". Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm.

[2] Fuller, Sherry. "Choosing the right drought-tolerant lawn can save water". SWColoradohome.com.

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[2]