Taxon: Festuca brachyphylla Schult. & Schult. f.

Summary

Genus:

Festuca

Family:

Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)

Subfamily:

Pooideae

Tribe:

Poeae

Subtribe:

Loliinae

Nomen number:

16636

Place of publication:

Mant. 3:646. 1827

Verified:

05/13/1999 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

24 (23 active, 13 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Festuca ovina L. var. brachyphylla (Schult. & Schult. f.) Piper

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Festuca brevifolia R. Br.
Festuca ovina L. var. brevifolia S. Watson

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Aiken, S. G. et al. 1996-. Festuca of North America: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval.
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Alexeev, E. 1979. Genus Festuca L. in Asia Media. Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 15:53.
Cody, W. J. 1996. Flora of the Yukon Territory.
Cronquist, A. et al. 1972-. Intermountain flora. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson
Fjellheim, S. et al. 2001. Molecules and morphology in concert. II. The Festuca brachyphylla complex (Poaceae) in Svalbard. Amer. J. Bot. 88:869-882.
Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, ed. 2
Guldahl, A. S. et al. 2001. Variation in the Festuca brachyphylla (Poaceae) complex in Svalbard, elucidated by chromosome numbers and isozymes. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 137:107-126.
Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: higher plants of California
Hitchcock, A. S. 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States, ed. 2. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brachyphylla (Schult.) Piper
Hitchcock, C. L. et al. 1955-1969. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson
Pavlick, L. E. 1984. Studies on the Festuca ovina complex in the Canadian Cordillera. Canad. J. Bot. 62:2452.
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Rønning, O. I. 1996. The flora of Svalbard.
Smith, S. R. & A. Mintenko. 2000. Developing and evaluating North American native grasses for turf use. Diversity 16:44. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brachyphylla (Schult. & Schult. f.) Piper
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
Welsh, S. L. et al. 1993. A Utah flora. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson

Common names

Language	Name	note	seq	Citation
English	alpine fescue	as Festuca ovina	1	Cronquist, A. et al. 1972-. Intermountain flora. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson
English	rock fescue		1	Rønning, O. I. 1996. The flora of Svalbard.
Swedish	bergsvingel		2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Kazakhstan		s.e.	Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Kyrgyzstan			Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Tajikistan			Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Russian Far East	Russian Federation	Kamčatskij kraj		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Russian Far East	Russian Federation	Magadanskaja oblast'		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Altay		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Buryatia		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Chita		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Gorno-Altay		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Irkutsk		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Jamalo-Neneckij avtonomnyj okrug		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Krasnoyarsk		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Taymyr		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Tyva, Respublika		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation	Yakutia-Sakha		Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation-European part	European part	n.	Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
1	Native	Europe	Northern Europe	Svalbard and Jan Mayen	Svalbard		Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Ontario	n.
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Québec
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Vermont
1	Native	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Colorado
1	Native	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Montana	w.
1	Native	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Oregon		Hitchcock, C. L. et al. 1955-1969. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson
1	Native	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Washington		Hitchcock, C. L. et al. 1955-1969. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson
1	Native	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Wyoming
1	Native	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	Arizona
1	Native	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	California		Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: higher plants of California
1	Native	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	Utah		Welsh, S. L. et al. 1993. A Utah flora. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson
1	Native	Northern America	Subarctic America	Canada	Northwest Territories
1	Native	Northern America	Subarctic America	Canada	Yukon		Cody, W. J. 1996. Flora of the Yukon Territory.
1	Native	Northern America	Subarctic America	Greenland
1	Native	Northern America	Subarctic America	United States	Alaska
1	Native	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	Alberta
1	Native	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	British Columbia
1	Native	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	Manitoba	n.
1	Native	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	Saskatchewan	n.

Native
Asia-Temperate

SIBERIA: Russian Federation [Altay, Buryatia, Chita, Gorno-Altay, Irkutsk, Jamalo-Neneckij avtonomnyj okrug, Krasnoyarsk, Taymyr, Tyva, Respublika, Yakutia-Sakha]
MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan (s.e.), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
RUSSIAN FAR EAST: Russian Federation [Kamčatskij kraj, Magadanskaja oblast']

Europe

NORTHERN EUROPE: Svalbard and Jan Mayen [Svalbard]
EASTERN EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part (n.)]

Northern America

SUBARCTIC AMERICA: Canada [Northwest Territories, Yukon], Greenland, United States [Alaska]
EASTERN CANADA: Canada [Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario (n.), Québec]
WESTERN CANADA: Canada [Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba (n.), Saskatchewan (n.)]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Vermont]
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Colorado, Montana (w.), Oregon, Washington, Wyoming]
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Arizona, California, Utah]

Reference(s)

Cody, W. J. 1996. Flora of the Yukon Territory.
Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: higher plants of California
Hitchcock, C. L. et al. 1955-1969. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Tzvelev, N. N. 1976. Zlaki SSSR
Welsh, S. L. et al. 1993. A Utah flora. Note: = Festuca ovina var. brevifolia S. Watson

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Environmental	erosion control	as Festuca ovina var. brachyphylla	Smith, S. R. & A. Mintenko. 2000. Developing and evaluating North American native grasses for turf use. Diversity 16:44. Note: as Festuca ovina var. brachyphylla
Environmental	revegetator	as Festuca ovina var. brachyphylla	Smith, S. R. & A. Mintenko. 2000. Developing and evaluating North American native grasses for turf use. Diversity 16:44. Note: as Festuca ovina var. brachyphylla

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=16636. Accessed 15 April 2026.