ABSTRACT
Festuca is the largest genus in the Poaceae family which contains more than 500 species of temperate grasses (Inda et al. 2008). The vast majority of the species are allopolyploids and the ploidy levels vary from diploid (2n = 2x = 14) to dodecaploid (2n = 12x = 84) (Loureiro et al. 2007). Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb. syn. Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.) is one of the most agriculturally important and widely distributed species within the Festuca genus. It is a cool-season perennial with C3 photosynthesis, usually grown throughout the temperate regions of the world. Tall fescue is widely adapted in North America for forage and landscaping purposes. It has been cultivated in 18 M ha in the United States (Buckner et al. 1979).
