Characteristics:

Roemer’s fescue is a short, erect, slow growing, long lived, perennial found from southern British Columbia to San Francisco, California. It has approximately 460,000 seeds per pound. It grows where annual rainfall range between 8-48 inches. Roemer’s fescue is short in height with leaf foliage about 25 cm tall with stiff reproductive stems 90 cm long during flowering. It is highly cross-pollinating species with multiple phenotypes. Plant types have range of height, leaf and stem color, leaf canopy appearance, seed yield and other traits. Leaf and stem color can range from light green, glaucous, pink to rust red. Characteristics important to restoration practitioner’s include low input requirements, drought tolerance, non-aggressive growth habit, compatibility with upland forbes and flowers and short compact plant growth. Roemer’s fescue should be used in mixes containing California oatgrass in prairie wetlands and drought tolerant forbes and flowers on mesic upland sites.