Festuca arundinacea
(tall fescue)

Preferred Common Name

• tall fescue

Other Scientific Names

• Aira oryzetorum Spreng.
• Avena secunda Salisb.
• Brachypodium interruptum (Desf.) Roem. & Schult.
• Bromus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Roth
• Bucetum elatius (L.) Parn.
• Festuca elatior L.
• Gnomonia elatior (L.) Lunell
• Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.
• Poa elatior (L.) Moench
• Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.
• Schedonorus elatior (L.) P.Beauv.
• Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub
• Tragus elatior (L.) Panz.

International Common Names

• English: alata fescue; alta fescue; coarse fescue; Kentucky fescue; reed fescue
• Spanish: cañuela alta; festuca canosa; zacate fescua
• French: fétuque élevée; fétuque faux roseau; fétuque roseau
• Russian: ovsyanitsa trostnikovaya
• Chinese: wei zhuang yang mao
• Portuguese: erva-corneira

Local Common Names

• Germany: Rohrschwingel
• Italy: festuca alta
• Japan: oniushinokegusa
• Netherlands: rietzwenkgras
• Poland: kostrzewa trzcinowa
• Sweden: roersvingel

EPPO code

• FESAR (Festuca arundinacea)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Monocotyledonae
•                     Order: Cyperales
•                         Family: Poaceae
•                             Genus: Festuca
•                                 Species: Festuca arundinacea

Festuca arundinacea was first described by the German naturalist von Schreber in 1771, moved to the genus Schedonorus by Dumortier in 1824 and moved again to the genus Lolium under the name Lolium arundinaceum by Darbyshire in 1993. The genus Schedonorus was resurrected in 1998 and the name Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort. was conserved against the earlier name Schedonorus arundinaceus Roem. & Schult. (Soreng et al., 2001). Festuca arundinacea is now classified in the subgenus Schedonorus, a subgenus very closely related to Lolium, which has led to proposals that species within this subgroup should be reclassified as Lolium, meaning that tall fescue would become Lolium arundinacea (Hand et al., 2010) which is an accepted synonym. The name Festuca arundinacea is widely used and recognised within the agricultural, veterinary and scientific communities, as well as within lawn care and landscaping businesses, so that any further name changes would be hard to establish (Soreng et al., 2001).

F. arundinacea is a perennial grass producing large, loose, but sometimes dense, tussocks, normally without short rhizomes, and without stolons. Culms are unbranched, smooth (or rough below panicle) and erect, (39-)45-120(-200) cm long. The lower sheaths are not fused, and are smooth and rounded on the back. Ligule, < 2 mm, membranous with ciliate auricles (cilia often few and wearing off with age). Leaves, dark-green, stiff, usually flat, 10–60(-105) cm long, (1-)3-12 mm wide, distinctly ribbed above, rough or smooth below only, scabrous on margin, and tapering to a fine tip. Panicles (6-)10-50 cm long, lax and wide, erect or pendant, lanceolate to ovate, green or purplish, with many rough branches, which are mostly in pairs; lowest two nodes with 2-3 subequal branches, each with 5-15 spikelets, the shorter branch with (3-)4-many spikelets. Pedicels up to 8 mm long. Spikelets elliptic to oblong; (8-)9-18 mm long, with 3-10 florets, disarticulating beneath each lemma at maturity. Glumes persistent, often purple-tinged, subequal to equal, pointed; lower narrowly lanceolate, 3-6 mm long, one-nerved; upper lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong, 4.5-7 mm long. Lemmas rounded on back, overlapping, or with margins incurved, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate in side view, pointed to blunt, 6-7.5(-10) mm long, firm except for the membranous upper margins, five-nerved, broadly rounded on back with fine, rough awn, when present, 0.5-3.5(-6) mm extension of the middle nerve. Paleas as long as lemmas with rough keels. Three stamens with anthers 3-4 mm long. Ovary glabrous. Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; glabrous (Gibson and Newman, 2001; Clayton et al., 2016).

Tall fescue was introduced into the USA from Europe sometime in the 19th century, according to some in the early 1800s (Duble, 2016), but according to Hannaway et al. (1999) in the late 1800s, with early performance tests conducted at the Utah and Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Stations and in Washington, DC. Tall fescue did not become a prominent forage grass in the USA, however, until the 1940s, and is now present in all states, as well as southern Canada.

In Australia, F. arundinacea was first documented in Victoria in 1901 (Australian Government Office of the Gene Technology Regulator, 2008). Introduced there as a pasture grass, it is now widely naturalized in the temperate regions of southern Australia (eastern New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, many parts of South Australia and south-western Western Australia). It is also found occasionally naturalized in the southern parts of the Northern Territory and south-eastern Queensland (Queensland Government, 2016).

F. arundinacea was first recorded in Japan in 1905, having been imported as a pasture grass. It now occurs on the main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku and is considered an invasive alien, occurring in grasslands, farm fields, urban areas, vacant lots and along streams and waterfronts (Invasive Species of Japan, 2016). 

Soil drainage

• free
• impeded
• seasonally waterlogged

Soil reaction

• acid
• alkaline
• neutral
• very alkaline

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

Special soil tolerances

• saline

Natural Dispersal

The main natural method of seed dissemination for the grass is through wind dispersal. The seeds germinate rapidly following dispersal, which could account for some of the grass’s success (Gibson and Newman, 2001). The plant also propagates through vegetative means, through the production of rhizoids, although this method does not allow for spread over large distances.

Vector Transmission (Biotic)

The awn allows the seed to attach to animal vectors. Seeds can also travel through the digestive system and be successfully dispersed by excretion, as has been shown in horses (Campbell and Gibson, 2001).

Intentional Introduction

The primary method of dispersal for the grass is through intentional introduction. As an important turf and lawn constituent, F. arundinacea seeds can be found in many lawn seed products (USDA-NRCS, 2016).

The main negative economic impacts of F. arundinacea arise from endophyte infection, when the alkaloids produced by the organism cause fescue toxicosis, a disorder which can cause poor weight gain, low reproductive success and other health issues in livestock. It has been shown that for every 10% increase in endophyte level, there is a reduction in average daily liveweight gain in cattle of 45 g over the entire grazing season (Stuedemann and Hoveland, 1988). Animals with fescue toxicosis have also been noted to have high temperatures, roughened coats and symptoms of ‘fescue foot’ (Read and Camp, 1986); incidents of fescue poisoning often involve the cost of veterinary intervention.

Impact on Habitats

In its introduced range, F. arundinacea has escaped cultivation and invaded wild areas. It has become an invasive species and noxious weed in native grasslands and habitats throughout North America, including the California coastal prairie plant community (California Invasive Plant Council, 2016) and has encroached on the Clymer Meadow Preserve, a native prairie in northeastern Texas. In the latter case, tall fescue typically spread by establishing in wet or disturbed areas along roads, in eroded patches and in damp hollows. With growth continuing throughout the winter, it was able to shade out native plants. By the early 1990s it covered as much as 40% of the ground in test plots at the Preserve. The species has devastated many other prairie remnants in Texas (Cheater, 1992).

In Australia, F. arundinacea is regarded as a significant environmental weed in Victoria and as an environmental weed in the wider Sydney and Blue Mountains region of New South Wales. In Victoria it is thought to pose a serious threat to one or more vegetation formations. For example, it is listed as a high threat invasive weed in plains swampy eucalypt woodland in the Glenelg Plain and Wimmera bioregions. It is also present on several local and regional environmental weed lists in this state (e.g. in Knox Shire, Banyule Shire and the Goulburn Broken Catchment). In Western Australia it is established on road verges and in disturbed sites from Pemberton to Denmark, and also in Perth, but is regarded as a low priority environmental weed. In South Australia, tall fescue is commonly found in disturbed areas near pastures, but is also becoming a weed of wetter habitats. It is also established in several conservation areas in South Australia (Cudlee Creek Conservation Park, Cobbler Creek Recreation Park and Sturt Gorge Recreation Park) (Queensland Government, 2016).

Impact on Biodiversity

Tall fescue in North America has replaced many hectares of native grasses and does not supply the type of food and cover that many smaller game bird species need in order to thrive. For example, tall fescue only supports a limited number of insects, which are an important food for both quail and turkey (Henson, 2001). After tall fescue plants die, their leaves fall to the ground and create a thick thatch which prevents native plant seeds from germinating (California Invasive Plant Council, 2016). This thatch, which is a thick, impenetrable mat of culms near the soil surface that also forms after mowing or grazing, does not allow enough bare ground for some seed-eating birds to obtain adequate food. Additionally, tall fescue has been shown to inhibit seed germination in other plant species through allelopathy (Barnes et al., 1995; Henson, 2001). 

The presence of F. arundinacea has been linked with a reduction in biodiversity (Spyreas et al., 2001), and in forest situations has even suppressed the natural succession process by reducing tree abundance and size (Rudgers et al., 2007). The presence of the endophyte-infected grass, which is toxic to some herbivores, increases feeding on tree saplings, again altering normal succession processes. It is now recognized that the presence of the endophyte contributes to both the tough nature of the grass and the poor performance of grazing animals in the warmer months. Endophyte infection has been deleterious to wildlife as well, reducing the biological diversity of soil organisms, insects, native plants, birds and mammals. Endophyte-infected tall fescue inhibits many soil organisms, including pathogenic fungi, parasitic nematodes and beneficial mycorrhizal fungi. The fescue endophyte produces loline alkaloids that are toxic to at least twenty insect species. The endophyte also produces ergot alkaloids that are toxic to mammals, including domestic livestock. Grasslands dominated by endophyte-infected tall fescue support less total herbivore biomass, which in turn supports less predator biomass (Henson, 2001).

A 7.5 to 9 m-wide border composed of either native grasses or native grasses and legumes around tall fescue pastures can moderate the harmful effect of tall fescue on wildlife. A border supplies some food and cover for small game and birds, and is particularly effective when the pasture is adjacent to a well-managed forest (Henson, 2001).

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Tolerant of shade
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Reproduces asexually
• Has high genetic variability

• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Modification of successional patterns
• Monoculture formation
• Negatively impacts forestry
• Negatively impacts animal health
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Allelopathic
• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading
• Poisoning

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately
• Difficult to identify/detect as a commodity contaminant

Economic Value

Tall fescue is widely used as a reliable hay, silage and pasture grass for feeding livestock (Strahan et al., 1987) due to its resilience and vigour compared to other grass species (Hill et al., 1990). Since the early 1970s, tall fescue has been the predominant cool-season perennial grass grown in the USA, occupying around 14 million hectares (Hannaway et al., 1999). Because of its importance as a pasture grass, many cultivars of the species are available, the most common of which is Kentucky-31 (Schmidt et al., 1982).

Social Benefit

Turf-type F. arundinacea cultivars selected for short stature and narrow leaf blades are widely grown as very hardy, dense, wear-resistant turf in lawns, parks, golf course roughs and other areas which are mowed at a height of 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) or more; it does not tolerate mowing heights lower than this in summer (Lawn UK, 2014; Duble, 2016).

Environmental Services

Tall fescue has been planted for erosion control; however it has been shown to have similar, or even lesser, effectiveness in this regard than other grass species (Malik et al., 2000).