Tlie Country Gentleman's Magazine 



433 



®ur f astuit 6ra00^0. 



FESTUCA HETEROPHYLLA (A. E. Jussieu and D. Villars)— Various 



LEAVED Fescue-Grass. 



Synonyms. — F. nemorjun, F. ovina herdiformas, of some authors. French, La fetuhe feuilles variees. 

 Woodland hard-fescue. 



DESCRIPTION. 



PERENNIAL, roots strictly fibrous, and 

 never spreading underground. Habit 

 •of growth, densely tufted, compact, and up- 

 right ; leaves of a light green colour, those 

 next the root filiform, or finely cylindrical, 

 long, and flexible, while the stem leaves are 

 much broader than in the allied species, F. 

 ■duriuscida ', stems numerous, very upright, 

 and from 2^ to 3 feet in height ; panicles 

 loose, long, slightly spreading, and bending 

 to one side ; spikelets, open and spreadiing 

 each containing about 5 prominently bristle- 

 pointed seeds ; flowering in the second or 

 third week of June, and ripening its seed 

 about a month afterwards. 



NATURAL DISTRIBUTION. 



This is not a British grass, although com- 

 iTiOn in the central and southern countries of 

 Europe, where it is most frequent in mode- 

 rately shaded Avoodlands, at low or inter- 

 mediate elevations, on soils of good quality 

 and free from stagnant moisture. 



QUALITY AND USES. 



Throughout the first half of the grass 

 growing season, this is the most productive 

 of the so-called fine-leaved fescues, both in 

 pasturage and hay; but it does not repro- 

 duce its flower stems; and the autumn growth 

 of its root leaves is also deficient, hence it has 

 never been extensively cultirated in Britain. 



of ornamental lawns which are over- 

 shaded by trees. Its tufted habit of growth 

 precludes it from being used in fine scythe- 

 kept greens, yet few grasses are more suit- 

 able for woodland rides and drives that are 

 less frequently mown, while for narrow, orna- 

 mental walks and parterre edgings, its close 

 non-spreading growth, and agreeable light 

 green colour, render it remarkably suitable 

 as exemplified in His Royal Highness the 

 Prince of Wales' gardens at Sandringham. 



SEED AND SOWING. 



This fescue is remarkably prolific in the 

 production of seeds, the average weight of 

 which is 12 lb. per bushel, and about 33,000 



Fig. I. — Seed magnified three diameters. 



of them is contained in one ounce. The 

 greatest number braird when covered with not 



Although it deserves a place in hay and pas- more than }{ inch of earth, one half that 



ture mixtures, where heavy first crops are de- number when the covering is i to iX inch in 



siderated, more especially in those pastures epth, and none came up when buried to a 



VOL. IX. K L 



