HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



95b. Plants slender, annual, with shallow roots and hair-like leaves; 



culms usually less than 20 cm. tall; stamens usually 1; florets 

 cleistogamous. Fig. 132. 



SIX WEEKS FESCUE Festuca octoilora Walt. 



Annual; tufted, seldom over 20 cm. tall. 

 The leaves are borne mostly in a short 

 basal tuft. The plants may be found on 

 poor, usually sandy ground, throughout 

 the United States. Forage value very 

 low. The common name refers to the 

 very short life span. This and a num- 

 ber of small species of other genera, 

 with similar growth habits, go by the 

 name of "six weeks grasses." All may 

 provide short-term emergency feed for 

 range Hvestock after rcdns. April — July. 

 Twelve other similar species of Festu- 

 ca occur in parts of the U. S., but are 

 much less common. They are some- 

 times put in the genus Vulpia. 



Figure 132 



96a. Leaf blades flat, soft, the larger ones more than 3 mm. wide; 

 lemmas awnless or nearly so 97 



96b. Leaf blades rolled or folded, firm, less than 3 mm. wide; lemmas 

 owned or awnless -^^ 



97a. Spikelets usually less than 10 mm. long, with 5 or fewer florets. .98 



97b. Spikelets 8—18 mm. long, with 8 — 10 florets. Fig. 133. 



MEADOW FESCUE Festuca eJafior L. 



% 



% 

 f 



\ 



Perermial; tufted; plants 50 — 120 cm. tall; 

 leaf blades 4 — 8 mm. wide; panicle 10 — 20 

 cm. long, narrow cylindrical while flowering, 

 but contracted and spikelike afterward. This 

 species was introduced from Europe as a 

 forage plant and has now become widely 

 dispersed in meadows, pastures, roadsides 

 and waste places in the northern states. For- 

 age value good. June — July. 



Figure 133 



70 



