Red fescue
size:
10 to 100 centimeters
color:
dark green
blossoms:
May through August
reproduction:
seed, root stock and suckers
life span:
perennial
- Dut: Rood zwenkgras (zilt rood zwenkgras)
- Lat: Festuca rubra
- Eng: Red fescue
- Ger: Rotschwingel
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- , Foto Fitis, Sytske Dijksen
Red fescue
Red fescue is a grass species that can grow in many types of habitats throughout the world, as long as there is no heavy fertilization. It forms broad tufts or mats and is a nutricious grass for wild animals. The flowering spikes are first green but often turn a reddish-brown, giving the plant a reddish glow. Red fescue has a number of subspecies, one of which is a salt-tolerant variation found on the higher parts of salt marshes. Red fescue is important for many insect species in salt marshes.
- Osmosis
- , Foto Fitis, Sytske Dijksen
Imagine a very fine filter which permits some materials to pass but not all. This is known as osmosis. Thanks to this rather complicated process, two subspecies of red fescue are able to survive in salty environments, such as salt marshes and dunes: Festuca rubra subsp. arenaria and Festuca rubra subsp. litoralis. However, it doesn't grow if there is too much flooding. Nor does it grow in the flood-mark zone, where there are too many nutrients. On the marsh, you find red fescue growing together with sea milkwort, sea plantain and thrift.
See also
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