Spike Fescue

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Rhizome short and compact, stems close, Rhizome elongate, creeping, stems distant, Basal sheaths fibrous, old leav es persistent at base of plant, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades glaucous, blue-green, or grey, or with white glands, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, hea d, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers unisexual, Plants dioecious, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets unisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma mucronate, very shortly beaked or awned, less than 1-2 mm, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Leucopoa kingii (syn. Festuca kingii) is a species of grass known by the common names spike fescue and King's fescue. It is native to the western United States from Oregon and California east to Nebraska and Kansas.

This grass is a clump-forming perennial growing from a rhizome. It produces erect stems up to a meter tall, or occasionally taller. Previous seasons' dry stems and leaves remain in the clump, and the clump sometimes makes a ring shape. The clumps can be 2 meters wide. The species is dioecious, with male and female parts on separate plants. The inflorescence is a narrow panicle with branches pressed up against the stem. The flowers lack awns. The plant reproduces by seed and by sprouting new clumps from its rhizome.

This grass can be found in many habitat types, including forests, woodlands, shrublands, sagebrush, prairie, and grassland. It can occur at high elevation in subalpine and alpine climates. It can be found on dry, open slopes, generally in warmer spots. Female individuals are found in the more moist spots in the habitat, and generally do not make up more than 50% of the total individuals in any habitat.

It is a climax species in some ecosystems, such as high, exposed ridges. It is a codominant species in some plant associations. In Wyoming it is dominant alongside Idaho fescue, and in Colorado it is a main understory species in Ponderosa pine communities. It is an indicator species for forests in Idaho and Wyoming.

This grass is considered to be palatable and nutritious for livestock, but it is rarely abundant enough to be a main food source for them.