The Book of Grasses 



Fescue, whose narrow panicles rise above tufts of bristle-like 

 gray-green leaves, are the smallest of all, and are usually found in 

 .^.,, , , ^, dry locations. The latter 



species is distinguished 

 by slightly longer flower- 

 ing-heads, more numer- 

 A ously flowered spikelets, 



/ and longer awns. The stems of both 

 '^ / these grasses are usually about a foot in 

 / height, or in sterile soil they are often 

 / much smaller, though one occasionally 

 I finds a tall variety of Sheep's Fescue 

 which bears a more open panicle and 

 larger spikelets. 



Red Fescue is locally common by waysides 

 and is found in the shade as well as in the sun- 

 light. Like the two t>receding species it has a 

 profusion of involute basal leaves, but unlike 

 them it springs from extensively creeping root- 

 stocks and so is one of the useful soil-binders 

 on drier slopes. This species is variable and 

 is perhaps most easily recognized by the tufts 

 of bristle-like, dark leaves which surround the 

 base of the stems. 



The most common of the genus is the 

 Meadow Fescue, which was introduced from 

 Europe many years ago. For so tall a grass the 

 smooth stems are quite slender, and with their 

 tapering, shining leaves are a wide contrast to 

 Timothy, which begins to bloom before the 

 Meadow Fescue has faded, and is so often asso- 

 ciated with it in the fields. The long spikelets 

 of Meadow Fescue are green, frequently tinged 

 with reddish purple, and in bloom the flowers 

 for a short time are broadly open, giving 

 delicacy to the one-sided, drooping panicle, 

 which after flowering is narrow and closely 

 contracted. 



Rocky woodlands in nearly all the states 

 shelter the Nodding Fescue (Fesiuca nutans), 

 218 



