HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



101b. Leaves stiif, bluish. Fig. 138. 



ARIZONA FESCUE; PINEGRASS 



Festuca arizonica Vasey 



Figure 138 



Perennial; densely tufted; culms about 50 

 cm. tall; leaves stiff, pale, rather scabrous; 

 panicles narrow, 8 — 20 cm. long, with one or 

 two spreading branches at the base. Open 

 pine forests, mountains of the Southwest. An 

 important grazing grass, closely related to 

 the more northerly F. idahoensis (Fig. 141). 

 July — August. 



Festuca capillata Lam., commonly called 

 HAIR FESCUE, is a much smaller plant, with 

 spikelets under 5 mm. long, and short, spike- 

 like panicles less than 5 cm. long. It occurs 

 in lawns and waste places in the eastern 

 states and westward to Illinois; Oregon. In- 

 troduced from Europe. 



102a. New leafy shoots arising within the old sheaths; plants forming 

 dense tufts; old sheaths not reddish nor fibrous 103 



102b. New leafy shoots breaking through the bases of the sheaths and 

 spreading at the base, the plants hence forming loose turfs; old 

 basal sheaths reddish brown, finally shredding into brownish 

 threads. Fig. 139. 



RED FESCUE Festuca rubra L. 



Perennial; tufted; culms 40 — 100 cm. 

 tall; panicle slender, the short branches 

 ascending. Wet or dry ground; wide- 

 spread in the eastern United States and 

 in the western mountains. A number 

 of forms of this species are used in 

 lawn mixtures. Chewings fescue and 

 creeping red fescue are among these. 

 Red fescue is native in Europe, Asia, 

 and North Africa as well as North 

 America. Most of the occurrences in 

 the eastern states seem to be intro- 

 ductions, probably in lawn seed mix- 

 tures. May — July. 



Figure 139 



Fesfuca occidentaJis Hook, has somewhat similar culm bases but 

 the awns are as long as the lemmas and the long, spreading panicle 

 branches bear spikelets only near their tips. Northwestern states; 

 northern Michigan and Ontario. 



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