Festuca alpina
Festuca alpina, also known as the alphine fescue, is a species of grass in the genus Festuca. It grows in rocky habitats in many of the mountain chains across Europe, in the countries of Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.
When regarded as an aggregate group, the Festuca alpina group includes a number of other taxa, with Festuca alfrediana as the most notable.
Characteristics
Leaves
Festuca alpina can grow up to 6 to 20 centimetres high. Its leaves are curled into bristles, are less than 0.5 millimetres wide, and have a green hue. Leaf sheaths of non-flowering shoots are closed to about the middle.
Flowers
Ligules are less than 0.5 millimetres long, its panicles are 1.5 to 3 centimetres long, and its spikelets are 6 centimetres long in a pale green hue. Lemmas are about 3.5 to 4.2 millimetres in length, with awns about 3 to 4 millimetres long. Its anthers are between 0.8 and 1.5 millimetres in length, while its ovaries are glabrous. Flowering period: July to August.