Schedonorus giganteus

(L.) Holub
Common names: Giant fescue
Synonyms: Lolium giganteum Festuca gigantea
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 448.

Plants perennial. Culms to 1.5 m. Leaves convolute in young shoots; auricles glabrous; ligules 0.5-2.5 mm; blades (10)20-40 cm long, 4-18 mm wide. Panicles 8-50 cm; branches usually 2 per node. Spikelets 8-13(20) mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, with 3-10 florets. Lower glumes 4-7 mm; upper glumes 5-8 mm; lemmas 6-9 mm, usually scabrous or hispidulous, rarely smooth, awns 10-18 mm; paleas as long as to slightly longer than the lemmas; anthers 2.5-3 mm. Caryopses 3-4.6 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide. 2n = 42.

Distribution

Ont., Que., N.Y., Mich., Conn.

Discussion

Schedonorus giganteus is adventive from Europe. It is cultivated as an ornamental, and has escaped to woodland openings and edges and to shaded ravines, at isolated localities in Quebec, Ontario, Michigan, New York, and Connecticut.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.