HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



103a. Leaf blades less than one half the culm length; panicles less 

 than 10 cm. long; plants usually less than 30 cm. tall; wide- 

 spread in the U. S. Fig. 140. 



SHEEP FESCUE Festuca ovina L. 



Perennial; tufted; 20 — 40 cm. toll, with 

 a small, narrow panicle. Since the 

 sterile leafy shoots (innovations) arise 

 within the old sheaths, the plants form 

 dense, bumpy tufts, making this spe- 

 cies undesirable as a lawn grass. It 

 frequently appears in old neglected 

 lawns. In mass, the plants have a gray- 

 ish-green color, but they do not turn 

 brown during dry splls, as bluegrass 

 does. Regarded as good forage in the 

 western mountains. Native also to 

 Europe and Asia. May — June. 



Var. biachyphylla (Schult.) Piper is 

 a dwarf, high altitude form found above 

 timber line in the western mountains, 

 where it is important for grazing. Culms 

 5 — 20 cm. tall. 



Figure 140 



103b. Leaf blades more than one half the culm length; plants 30 — 100 



cm. tall; panicles 10 — 20 cm. long; in the western mts. Fig. 141. 



BLUEBUNCH FESCUE Festuca idahoensis Elmer 



Perennial; forming large tufts, the densely 

 crowded slender culms up to a meter in 

 height. The panicles are slender, 10 — 20 cm. 

 long, usually with a single longer spreading 

 lower branch. The leaves are rough and 

 glaucous, but not as stiff as those of the 

 closely related Arizona fescue (see 101b). 

 Important as a range forage grass. Jime — 

 August. 



Figure 141 



104a. Plants producing rhizomes 105 



104b. Plants tufted, without rhizomes 1 12 



74 



