Altai fescue facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Altai fescue |
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Festuca altaica is a type of grass that grows year after year. It's also known by its older name, Festuca scabrella. This grass forms thick clumps and can be found in many cold, northern parts of the world. It grows all the way from central Asia to eastern North America, especially in the Arctic regions. People sometimes call it altai fescue or rough fescue.
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What Does Altai Fescue Look Like?
Festuca altaica is a grass that grows in dense clumps. These clumps are connected underground by short stems called rhizomes. Think of rhizomes like underground runners that help the plant spread.
Stems and Leaves
The stems that hold the flowers, called culms, are usually about 30 to 90 centimeters (about 1 to 3 feet) tall. Some can even grow taller, up to 120 centimeters (about 4 feet)! The top side of the leaves has many tiny hairs. There's also a very small flap, called a ligule, where the leaf meets the stem. It's only about 0.1 to 0.6 millimeters long.
Flowers and Seeds
The flowers of this grass grow in a loose, branched cluster called a panicle. The small flower parts, called spikelets, are about 8 to 14 millimeters long. They can be purple or brown and each spikelet has 3 to 6 individual tiny flowers inside. Festuca altaica produces its flowers and seeds from late spring all the way into the fall.
How Altai Fescue Got Its Name
The grass Festuca altaica was first officially described in 1829. A scientist named Carl Bernhard von Trinius wrote about it in a book called Flora Altaica.
Changing Names
Later, in 1840, another scientist named John Torrey described a very similar grass. He called it Festuca scabrella. For many years, people thought these were two different types of grass. But over time, scientists realized they were the same plant. So, in 1942, Festuca scabrella was changed to be a subspecies of F. altaica. Then, in 1957, it became a variety. Today, Festuca scabrella is considered a synonym of Festuca altaica. This means they are the same plant, and Festuca altaica is the correct scientific name.
Where Altai Fescue Grows
Festuca altaica grows in many cold, northern places around the world. It has a very wide distribution, especially in the Arctic regions.
In Asia
In parts of Asia, you can find it in Siberia and the Russian Far East. It also grows in countries like Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and in the Xinjiang region of China.
In North America
In North America, this grass is common throughout the subarctic areas. It grows across western Canada and in some parts of eastern Canada, like Labrador, Newfoundland, and Quebec. You can even find it as far south as Michigan in the United States.
Alberta's Provincial Grass
A very large area of grassland in the Canadian province of Alberta is home to Festuca altaica. In fact, under its old name Festuca scabrella (rough fescue), it is the official provincial grass of Alberta!
