Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratensis)
- Family: Grass (Poaceae)
- Flowering: April-July.
- Field Marks: Meadow fescue is very similar to tall fescue, but differs by having 6 or more flowers per spikelet.
- Habitat: Roadsides, fields, disturbed areas.
- Habit: Perennial grass in tufts, with fibrous roots.
- Stems: Erect, unbranched, smooth, up to 5 feet tall.
- Leaves: Elongated, narrow, slightly rough to the touch, up to 1/2 inch broad.
- Flowers: 6 or more in a spikelet; each spikelet up to 1 inch long, borne in panicles.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Lemmas: Pointed at the tip, usually smooth, up to 1/2 inch long, usually without an awn.
- Stamens: Usually 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior.
- Grains: Oblong, reddish, about 1/8 inch long.
- Notes: This grass is a good grass for forage and for stabilizing the soil.
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