Festuca saximontana

Mountain fescue, Mountain Fescue

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mountain fescue is a California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, and White and Inyo Mountains in alpine and subalpine habitats at elevations generally above 3,000 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces delicate, narrow grass flowers in compact, slender clusters. Growing in dense clumps with stems 5 to 25 centimeters tall, it forms tight bunches in high-elevation rocky environments. Its leaves are extremely narrow, less than half a millimeter wide, folded tightly and slightly rough near the tips, creating a fine, wiry texture. In alpine environments, mountain fescue is well-adapted to dry, rocky terrain like granitic gravel and talus fields.

Habitat: Alpine, subalpine summits, dry granitic gravel, talus fields, sagebrush scrub

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: generally > 3000 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNH, SnBr, W&ampI

California counties: Inyo, San Bernardino, Alpine, Madera, Fresno, Mono, Tulare, Tuolumne

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.