Festuca glauca, commonly known as blue fescue, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family, Poaceae. It is a commonly cultivated evergreen or semi-evergreen herbaceous perennial.
Range
Blue fescue is native to France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.
↑ Plants of the World Online. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:20008857-1
Etymology
Common names include blue fescue, blue mountain grass, and grey fescue. It was originally described by French naturalist Dominique Villars.
The genus name Festuca means 'straw', and is a name that was used by Pliny the Elder. 'Festuca' also refers to a rod used to manumit Romans from slavery to freedom.
The species name glauca is derived from Latin and means 'with a white or greyish bloom', or 'glaucous'. It is a cognate of the word 'glaucoma'.
1 2 Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press.
Description
F. glauca is a perennial clump-forming ornamental grass noted for its glaucous, finely-textured, blue-gray foliage. The foliage forms a dome-shaped, porcupine-like tuft of erect to arching, needle-like 9-ribbed blades, radiating upward and outward to a length of 140–180 mm. Light green flowers with a purple tinge appear in terminal panicles atop stems rising above the foliage in late spring to early summer, but inflorescences are not very showy. Flowers give way to puffy wheat-like seed-heads.
↑ Cite error: The named reference POWO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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Cultivation
F. glauca on sale in a nursery
In cultivation F. glauca can reach a height of 14–18 cm (6–7 in) (inflorescences typically bring total clump height to 20–25 cm (8–10 in)). It does best in well-draining soil as plants will not grow well in wet soils. It tolerates dry and low nutrient soils. Plant in a full sun for best foliage colour. It will also grow in a lightly shaded position. Will tolerate...
