GRASS FAMILY 



217 



Culms erect, or at least not with decumbent rhizome-like base. 

 Lemmas awnless or nearly so. 

 Lemmas awned. 



Awn of lemma longer than the body; blades soft, sulcate. 

 Awn of lemma shorter than the body; culms closely tufted. 

 Blades scabrous, usually elongate. 

 Blades smooth. 



Plants about 1 meter tall or more. 

 Plants low, usually less than IS cm. 



Blades hard, involute, shining, not angled. 



Blades soft, angled in drying, the tissue soft between the angles. 



26. F. brachyphylla. 



1. Festuca octoflora \\'alt. 



504. 



21. F. liridiila. 



22. F. occideiitalis. 



23. F. idahocnsis. 



24. F. Iiowellii. 



25. F. siil^ina. 



Slender Fescue. Fig. 



1788. 

 1797. 



Festuca octoflora Walt. Fl. Carol. 81. 

 Festuca tenella Willd. Sp. PI. 1: 419. 



Culms slender, erect, usually 15-30 cm. tall; blades 

 narrow, involute ; panicle narrow, the branches short, 

 appressed ; spikelets 6-8 mm. long, densely 5-13- 

 flowered : glumes subulate-lanceolate, the lirst 1- 

 nerved. 3 mm. long, the upper 3-nerved, 4 mm. long; 

 lemmas firm, convex, lanceolate, glabrous or scabrous, 

 the margins not scarious. 4-5 mm. long, attenuate 

 into a scabrous awn 2-4 mm. long. 



Open ground, in the L'pper Sonoran and Tansition Zones; 

 throughout most of the United States, extending into eastern 

 Washington and Oregon, and into southeastern California. 

 Apr. -July. Type locality: South Carolina. 



Festuca octoflora hirtella Piper, Contr. L'. S. Xat. Herl). 

 10: 12. 1906. Differs in being usually in low spreading tufts; 

 foliage usually pubescent; lemmas hirtellous or pubescent. 

 More frequent than the species, growing in more arid ground; 

 Arizona and northern Mexico to California, San Luis Obispo 

 County, to the Mojave Desert; also on Mount Tamalpais 

 (Chase) and in northern Inyo County {Heller). Type locality: 

 Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona. 



2. Festuca bromoides L. 

 Six-weeks Fescue. Fig. 505. 



Festuca bromoides L. Sp. PI. 75. 1753. 



Similar to F. megalura ; culms 10-30 cm, tall; 

 panicle dense, 5-10 cm. long; gluines unequal, the 

 first 4 mm. long, the second 6-7 mm. long; lemma 

 7-8 mm. long, the awn 10-12 mm. long. 



Dry hills and meadows, Santa Barbara and San Ber- 

 nardino Counties to Vancouver Island; introduced from 

 Europe. Apr.-June. Type locality, European. 



506. 



188. 1848. 



3. Festuca megalvira Xutt. 

 Western Six-weeks Fescue. Fig 



Festuca megalura Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. II. 1 



Culms 20-60 cm. tall ; sheaths and blades smooth ; 

 panicle narrow, 7-20 cm. long, the branches appressed ; 

 spikelets 4- or 5-flowered ; glumes glabrous, very un- 

 equal, the first about 2 mm. long or less, the second 

 4-5 mm. long ; lemmas linear-lanceolate, scabrous 

 above, ciliate on the upper half, attenuate into an 

 awn about twice its length. The cilia on the lemmas, 

 by which this species is distinguished from F. myiiros, 

 are sometimes hidden by the incurved edges of the 

 lemma at maturity. 



Cultivated or open ground, sandy soil and waste places, in 



the Transition Zone; mostly in the Coast Ranges; extending 



from British Columbia to Idaho and Lower California. A])r.- 

 June. Type locality: Santa Barbara. 



