Festuca paradoxa Desv. Cluster Fescue Habit: Tufted perennial. Culms: 60-120 cm. tall, solitary or a few to a tuft. Blades: 12-25 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide, flat, rough or smooth. Sheaths: Much shorter than the internodes, glabrous or short pubescent. Inflorescence: Panicle 7-18 cm. long, more compact than F. obtusa, the branches arched-drooping, the spikelets somewhat crowded towards the ends. Spikelets: 3-6-flowered, broadly obovate in age, 5-6 mm. long; the flowers perfect or the upper ones staminate, the rachilla articulate between the flowers. Glumes: 2, firm. unequal, keeled, acute, 2.5-3.5 mm. long, the first mostly 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved and longer, scabrous especially on the nerves. Lemmas: 3.5-4 mm. long, obtuse or subobtuse, obscurely nerved. Palea: A little shorter than the lemma, 2-keeled. Habitat: West prairies, thickets and open woods. July-August. Kansas Range: East third. Synonyms: Festuca nutans Biehler Festuca shortii Kunth ex Wood