Festuca

Festuca is a genus of grasses, family Poaceae, subfamily Pooideae, commonly called fescue, with over 660 species currently accepted though estimates range from about 400 to more than 640 species owing to taxonomic complexity; the genus is cosmopolitan, found on every continent except Antarctica. Members are evergreen, herbaceous perennial tufted grasses ranging from 10 to 200 centimeters tall, densely to loosely cespitose, some rhizomatous or stoloniferous, typically with smooth glabrous culms, membranous ligules 0.1 to 8 millimeters long, and flat or conduplicate leaf blades; inflorescences are open or contracted panicles with two to twelve bisexual florets per spikelet. The genus is closely related to ryegrass, Lolium, and recent DNA studies show it lacks monophyly, leading some species to be reclassified into related genera such as Schedonorus.