38 TRIAND. DIGYN. 



24. FESTUCA. 



1. F. ovina (S/icep^s Fescue-grass) ^ panide subseciind subcoaic- 

 tate, spikelets oblong of about 4 — 5 flowers with short awns, 

 culms square (upward), leaves setaceous. Lightf. p. 101. E. 

 B. ^585, and t. 1917 (F. ccesia), 



/3. vivipara, plant taller, leaves capillary. F. ovina |3., Lighif. 

 F. vivipara, E. B. t. 1355. 



Hab. Abundant in diy elevated pastures. /3. Mountains common, 

 especially the lofty ones ; rare in the plains. Wall, Helensburgh, 

 Hopk. Fl. June, July. • % . 



Leaves short, often curved, smooth or slightly scabrous, much tufted 

 and affording excellent feed for sheep. Ligule very short, projecting 

 on each side. Culms 4 to 8 inches high, in the upper part more or 

 less square. Cal. valves much shorter than the cor., acute, subgla- 

 brous. Cor.: outer valve more or less glabrous, sometimes pubes- 

 cent upward, or even haiiy^, terminated by an awn, which, though 

 varying in size, at the utmost does not exceed half the length of 

 the valve. Wliole plant more or less glaucous, with a purple tint 

 in the spikelets. In the F. vivipara of authors, which I cannot other- 

 wise consider than as a var. of ovina, the Jlorets are not more corn- 

 pressed than in a. ; the cal. varies in its pubescence, or is sometimes 

 glabrous ; nor are the leaves more smooth than in some specimens 

 of a. In my authentic specimens of F. casia I find no character 

 by which it may be distinguished from the true ovina ; the marks 

 given by its author in E. B. and Comp. Fl. Brit, being equally 

 found in ovina. Mr. D. Don, in his MSS. now before me, consi- 

 ders the F. ccesia of Sm. to be the same as F. Halleri of Vill. and 

 Gaud. ; but my foreign specimens of that plant from Prof. Hoppe 

 have a very different panicle, and awns as long as the florets. Very 

 Tiear F. ovina, and by many considered a var., is the F. tennifolia 

 of Sibth. and Schrad. ; far more slender in every part, the leaves 

 much longer. Spikelets smaller, green, glabrous, acute, not awned. 



2. F. duriuscula {hard Fescue- grass), panicle subsecund sub- 

 coaretate, spikelets oblong of about 6 flowers with short awns, 

 stem leaves nearly plane, radical ones suhsetaceous. Lightf, 

 p. 101. E.B.t.Ali). F.glauca, G.Don MSS. inedil. 



/3. root creeping. Lightf. p. 102. and p. 1085 (F. glabra). 

 E. B. t. 2056. 



Hab. Pastures and waste grounds, ;3. Rocks in Ailsa, abundant. 

 Arbigland in Galway, Lightf. Shores and islands of the Forth, 

 plentiful, D. Don. Fl. June, July. 1/ . 



Sir James Smith justly observes, it is hard to say what is a species in 

 this genus ; and to me it appears that authors have raised very 

 slight varieties of F. ovina and duriuscula into that rank. Even 

 these two species themselves it is difficult to distinguish in words, 

 so closely do their more important characters agree. F. duriuscula 

 is generally, however, twice or thrice the size of the former ; the 



^ When hairy, it is the F. Mrsuta Host. Gram. Austr. 



