NATURAL HISTORY. 



47 



Sheep's Fescue, (^festuca 

 ovina,) is known by its nar- 

 row panicle, short, tufted, bris- 

 tle-shaped leaves, of a grayish 

 color, somewhat tinged with 

 red, its two to six flowered 

 spikclets, awn, often nearly 

 wanting. It grows from six 

 to ten inches high in dense 

 perennial rooted tufts. It 

 forms an excellent pasturage 

 for sheep. It flowers in June 

 and July, in dry pastures. 

 In Fig. 38 is seen the form 

 of this grass, and in Fig. 39 

 is shown a magnified spikelet 

 of it. 



Fig. 36. Quaking Grass. 



Fig. 37 



Meadow Fescue, (festuca 

 pratensis,') is one of the most 

 common of the fescue grasses. 

 It is said to be the Randall 

 grass of Virginia. Its pani- 

 cle is nearly erect, branched, 

 close, somewhat inclined to 

 one side ; spikelets linear, 

 with from five to ten cylindrical flowers ; leaves linear, of a 

 glossy green, pointed, striated, rough oil the edges ; stems round, 

 smooth, from two to three feet high, roots, creeping, perennial. 

 Its radical or root leaves are broader than those of the stem, 

 while in most other species of fescue the radical leaf is generally 

 narrower than those of the stem. Flowers in June and July, 

 in moist pastures and near farm houses. 



