STANDLEY FLORA OF GLACIER PARK. 291 



24. FESTUCA L. Fescue. 



Perennials (in this region), commonly tufted, with narrow blades and open or 

 contracted panicles. 



Plants with stout rootstocks. Lemmas awnless 1. F. conflnis. 



Plants tufted, without rootstocks (dark red rootstocks sometimes developed in no. 3). 



Blades flat, broad, and thin 2. F. subulata. 



Blades narrow or involute, usually rather stiff. 

 Blades smooth. 



Culms slender and decumbent at the reddish base; blades not filiform. 



3. F. rubra. 



Culms not decumbent and red at base; blades filiform. 



Plants 50 cm. or more tall 4. F. occidentalis. 



Plants mostly less than 20 cm. tall 6. F. brachyphylla. 



Blades very rough. 



Lemmas awnless, 6 to 7 mm. long; blades not filiform .... 6. F. scabrella. 

 Lemmas awned; blades filiform. 



Plants usually 40 cm. or more tall; blades 15 to 25 cm. long. 



7. F. idahoensis. 

 Plants usually less than 30 cm. tall; blades 5 to 10 cm. long. 



8. F. saximontaua. 



1. Festuca confinis Vasey. Hills at east entrance, Umbach. Oreg. and Calif, to 

 Colo, and Mont. — Plants in large clumps, 50 to 80 cm. tall, relatively stout, with firm 

 fiat blades and narrow, rather compact, pale panicles; glumes thin and shining; 

 lemmas very scabrous. 



2. Festuca subulata Bong. At low and middle altitudes, in moist woods. Alaska 

 to Calif., Colo., and Mont. — A slender lax woodland grass, with soft blades and open 

 drooping panicle; spikelets about 1 cm. long, excluding the slender awns, these as 

 long as the body of the lemma. 



3. Festuca rubra L. Granite Park, on open moist rocky slope, and doubtless 

 elsewhere. Alaska to Colo., Va., and Greenl.; also in Eur. and Asia. — Plants in 

 loose clumps, the basal sheaths commonly shredded; culms usually 40 to 50 cm. tall; 

 panicles somewhat nodding, the slender branches spreading, rather compactly 

 flowered toward the ends; spikelets dull or grayish purple, short-awned. 



4. Festuca occidentalis Hook. Frequent at low and middle altitudes, in thin 

 woods or on open slopes. B. C. to Calif., Wyo., and Mont. — Culms 50 to 75 cm. tall, 

 with a dense tuft of laxly spreading filiform blades at base; panicles open, nodding, 

 the long-awned spikelets borne toward the ends of the few slender branches. 



5. Festuca brachyphylla Schult. Above timber line, in meadows or on rocky 

 slopes. Alaska to Calif., N. Mex., Vt., and Greenl. — Plants in dense tufts or cusliions, 

 the leaves crowded at the base; panicles narrow, mostly rather compact, the spikelets 

 fihort-awned. 



6. Festuca scabrella Torr. Grassy slopes, at middle altitudes. B. C. and Wash, 

 to Colo, and Mont. — Plants densely tufted, pale, the blades elongate, rather wiry; 

 panicles nodding, the branches ascending. 



7. Festuca idahoensis Elmer. Frequent at low and middle altitudes, on prairie 

 or open slopes. Idaho and Mont. — Culms few together, from a dense tuft of rough, 

 laxly spreading, filiform blades; panicles loose, nodding; spikelets short-awned. 



Resembles no. 4, but readily distinguished by the very rough blades. 



8. Festuca saximontana Rydb. Rocky slopes about Lake McDermott. B. C. to 

 Colo, and Mich. — In dense tufts or cushions; like the preceding, but culms and 

 blades usually less than half as tall; panicles narrow, the spikelets smaller. 



2048—20 5 



