This native perennial has stems from 1 1/2 to 3 feet tall. Plants may be solitary but often grow in small bunches. Leaves are up to 12 inches long and less than 1/2 inch wide. Flower clusters are large, open, spreading panicles up to 12 inches long which usually droop noticeably at maturity (A,D). From 2-7 spikelets, each consisting of 2-5 individual florets, are present at the tips of the branches (E).
Moist upland and lowland woods. Nodding Fescue is quite common and widespread in both uplands and lowlands at FF/NW. Look for it in Fontenelle Forest along Linden Trail or Gifford Memorial Boardwalk and along the Missouri River Ecology Trail or Settlers Trail at Neale Woods. Flowering occurs from late May to July.
Fowl mannagrass (Glyceria striata) has similar large, open panicles, but spikelets are more evenly distributed along the branches, and it is usually found in wetter habitats. Slender wedgegrass (Sphenopholis intermedia) panicles are more compact, often densely closed. Whitegrass (Leersia virginica) flowers later, and its panicles do not droop.
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