308 GRAMINE.E. [Festuca. 



nate, or awned at the summit. — Named from the Celtic word 

 fest, according to Theis, which signifies/ooc?, pasturage. 



Triandria. Digynia, 



1. F. ovina, Linn. Sheep's Fescue-grass. Panicle sub- 

 seeund, subcoarctate ; spikelets oblong, of about four to ft>e 

 flowers with short awns ; culms square upward ; leaves seta- 

 ceous. Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 48. E. Fl. v. i. p. 139. E. Bot. 

 t. 585.— /3. (Sin.) rubra; panicle purplish. F. rubra, With. 

 — 7. fSm.J casta; plant glaucous. E. Fl. — F. ccesia, E. Bot. 

 £.1917. — 8. vivipara ; plant taller; flowers viviparous. F. 

 ovina, /3. Linn. Hook. — 7. Schrad. — F. vivipara, E. Bot. 

 t. 1355. E. Fl. v. i. p. 140. 



Abundant on dry elevated pastures. S. On the tops of our highest 

 mountains. Fl. June, July. % . — Leaves mostly short, often curved, 

 smooth or slightly scabrous, much tufted, and affording excellent food 

 for sheep. Culm four to eight inches or a foot high, in the upper part 

 more or less distinctly four-sided. Calyx-valves much shorter thaa 

 the corolla, acute, subglabrous. Corolla, ext. valve more or less 

 glabrous, sometimes pubescent upward. Whole plant more or less 

 glaucous, and having a purple tint in the spikelets. 



2. F. duriuscidq, Linn. Hard Fescue-grass. Panicle sub- 

 secund, subcoarctate ; spikelets oblong, of about six flowers, 

 with short awns; stem-leaves nearly plane, radicle ones sub- 

 setaceous ; root fibrous. Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 49. E. Fl. v. u 

 p. 141. E. Bot. t. 470. 



Pastures, waste ground, and tops of walls, frequent. Fl. June, July. 

 % . — The leaves on the stem are sometimes convolute, and then they 

 appear setaceous. One to one and a half foot high, by which size and 

 its stouter habit it may be readily distinguished from F. ovina. 



3. F. rubra, Linn. Creeping Fescue-grass. Panicle uni- 

 lateral, spreading ; florets longer than their awns ; leaves downy 

 on their upper side, more or less involute ; root extensively 

 creeping. Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 49. E. Fl. v. i. p. 141. E. Bot. 

 t. 2056. 



Light sandy pastures near the sea, common. FL July. %.— Root 

 creeping, often extending many feet in the sand. 



4. F. bromoides, Linn. Barren Fescue-grass. Panicle se- 

 cund, racemed ; florets shorter than the awn, monandrous ; 

 culm above leafless. Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 49. E. Fl. v. i. p. 162. 

 E. Bot. t. 1411. 



Dry pastures and on walls. Plentiful on Killiney-hill, and fields 

 near Enniskerry and other places in the County of Wicklow. FL 

 June. ©.—Six to eight inches high. Leaves linear, setaceous, com- 

 plicate ; calyx-valves very unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, nerved, 

 rough at the keel. Florets about six in each spikelet. Ext. valve 

 of corolla linear-lanceolate, scabrous, tapering into a straight awn, 

 thrice the length of the valve. 



5. K Myurus, Linn. Wall Fescue-grass. Panicle secmuL 



