MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



69 



ceolate, coriaceous, 5 to 7 mm long, the scarious apex acutish, rarely short- 

 awned. % {Festuca pratensis Huds.) — Meadows, roadsides, and 

 waste places; introduced throughout the cooler parts of North Amer- 

 ica; native of Eurasia. 

 Cultivated for meadow 

 and pasture. Sometimes 

 called English bluegrass. 

 Festuca elatior var. 

 arundinacea (Schreb.) 

 Wimm. Larger form with 

 open panicles and spike- 

 lets usually with 4 or 5 

 florets. Ql — Introduced 

 sparingly from Europe, 

 New York to Washington. 

 Festuca gigantea (L.) 

 Vill. Blades broad, flat, 

 thin; panicles open; lem- 

 mas long-awned, the awn 

 flexuous and two or three 

 times as long as the lem- 

 ma. 01 Dobbs Ferry, 

 N.Y.; adventive from 

 Europe. 



18. Festuca kingii (S. 

 Wats.) Cassidy. Spike 

 fescue. (Fig. 79.) Culms 

 in large dense bunches, 

 stout, erect, 40 to 100 cm 

 tall, occasionally produc- 

 ing short rhizomes, these 

 usually wanting in herba- 

 rium specimens ; sheaths 

 smooth, striate; blades firm, flat or becoming loosely involute, 

 coarsely striate, 3 to 6 mm wide; panicle narrow, erect, 7 to 20 cm 

 long, the branches short, appressed, floriferous nearly to base; spike- 

 lets mostly 10 to 12 mm long; glumes broadly 

 lanceolate, subscarious, nearly smooth, the first 

 3 to 4 mm long, the second a half longer; lem- 

 mas ovate, acuminate, convex, faintly nerved, 

 scabrous, 5 to 8 mm long, awnless. 0\ (F. 

 conjinis Vasey; Hesperochloa kingii Rydb.) — 

 Dry mountains and hills, 2,000 to 3,500 m, 

 Oregon to southern California, east to Montana 

 and Colorado (fig. 80). Festuca kingii var. 



rabiosa (Piper) Hitchc. Blades involute; lemmas short-awned. % 

 — Known only from Wyoming (Crazy Womans Creek) and Montana 

 (Beaverhead Forest). 



19. Festuca sororia Piper. (Fig. 81.) Culms erect, loosely tufted, 

 60 to 90 cm tall; blades flat, thin, smooth except the scabrous margins, 

 3 to 6 mm wide; panicle loose, open, nodding, or sometimes somewhat 

 condensed, 10 to 15 cm long, the branches solitary or in twos, naked 

 below; spikelets rather loosely 3- to 5-flowered; glumes lanceolate, 

 the first about 3 mm, the second about 5 mm long; lemmas membrana- 



Figure 79.— Festuca kingii. Plant, X H. spikelet, X 5. 

 (Osterhout 1897, Colo.) 



Figure 80.— Distribution of 

 Festuca kingii. 



