Where the collar meets the sheath there is a short, greenish, membranous ligule about 2 mm long. Tall fescue is similar in appearance to ryegrass. In fact, some of the new fescue varieties are hybrids of fescue and ryegrass. Tall fescue differs from perennial ryegrass which has a leaf that is folded in the bud stage. It differs from Italian ryegrass which has a smooth leaf margin and a longer, more prominent ligule.
Tall fescue goes to head later than orchardgrass and Kentucky bluegrass.
It is similar to these two grasses in that its growing point remains near the ground during vegetative growth. Tall fesuce vegetative state. Tall fescue maintains most of its carbohydrate energy reserves in the tiller bases. An endophyte is a fungus that grows inside another plant, without causing any apparent harm to the host plant and in some cases providing benefits to the host. Tall fescue appears to benefit from the presence of this endophyte.