Rocky Mountain/Alpine Fescue


Festuca saximontana Rydb./ Festuca brachyphylla Schultes
Rocky Mountain fescue is a densely tufted, low-growing, perennial bunchgrass with dense fibrous roots. Alpine fescue is very similar in growth habit but slightly shorter in stature. Both are cool season native grasses. There has been some variety development research in the last 10 years by Alberta Research Council researchers in Vegreville, Alberta.
The stems grow 10 to 60 cm (4 to 24 in.) tall. The leaves of Rocky Mountain fescue are very fine, yellowish-green to rarely purple, while the Alpine fescue leaves are commonly purple. Both have leaves that are about 0.5 to 1.0 mm wide, thread-like, and roll inwards.
The seed heads form 2- to 5-flowered spikelets in Rocky Mountain fescue compared to 3- to 4-flowered spikelets in Alpine fescue. Both have short awns on the seed. In native stands, flowering and seed maturity is highly variable. In cultivated stands, seeds shatter easily when mature. Alpine fescue has slightly smaller seeds (up to 2 mm difference in length). Flowering and seed maturity vary depending on altitude and latitude. In the northern prairies and boreal regions, seed matures in mid-June; in alpine regions, seed matures by early to late August. The seed shatters easily and provides plant recruitment for the revegetation of sites.