GRASSES OF IOWA. 275 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Iowa. Ames (Carver) ; 761 Armstrong (Pammel and Cratty) ; 

 Jewell Junction (Carver). 



North America. From Maine to New York, Ohio (Painsville, 

 Beardslee) ; California, Colorado (Grand County, Shear and Bessey), 

 "Washington and northward. 



16. FESTUCA. 



Festuca L. Sp. PI. 73. 1753. Endlicher Gen. PI. 101. Bentham and 

 Hooker. Gen. PI. 3: 1198. Hackel in Engler and Prantl. Nat. Pflanz. Fam. 

 II. 2: 74. Scribner. Bull. U. S. Dept. Agrl. Div. Agros. 20: 155. /. 124. 



Schedonorus Beauv. Agrost. 99. 1812. 



Vulpia Gmel. Fl. Bad. 1:8. 1805. 



Mygalurus Link. Hort. Berol. 1: 92. 1827. 



Loretia Dur. Jour. Rev. Sci. Nat. 2: 238. 1874. 



Spikelets three to many-flowered, panicled or racemose; the flowers 

 not webby at base. Lower glumes unequal, mostly keeled. Flowering 

 glumes chartaceous or almost coriaceous, roundish (not keeled) on the 

 back, more or less three to five-nerved, acute, pointed, or often bristle- 

 awned from the tip, rarely blunt ; the palet mostly adhering at maturity 

 to the enclosed grain. Stamens 1 to 3. Flowers, and often the leaves, 

 rather dry and harsh. (An ancient Latin name of some kind of grass; 

 of uncertain meaning.) 



Bentham & Hooker give the number of species at 80, found chiefly 

 in north temperate regions, although some authors extend the number to 

 2^0. Heller gives 36 for North America. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF FESTUCA. 



Low plants, leaves short, very narrow, 2mm. wide or less, mostly 

 involute; flowering glumes awl-shaped, mostly awned. 



Low annual or biennial; panicle spike-like, one-sided; flower- 

 ing glumes long awned F. octo flora} . 



Perennial from root-stocks; panicle often red, open in flower- 

 ing, contracted in fruit, awn short or wanting../', rubra} . 

 Taller plants, leaves long, usually 4mm. wide or over, flat; flowering 

 glumes oblong or lanceolate, usually awnless. 



Panicle contracted, spikelets 5-10-flowered; flowering glumes 



5-7 mm. long F. pratensis. . 



Panicle open; spikelets 3-6-flowered; flowering glumes about 

 4 mm. long. 



Spikelets very broad; panicle branches spikelet-bearing 



from the middle or below /". Shortii.*. 



Spikelets lanceolate, panicle branches long, finally 

 nodding, spikelet-bearing at the ends. .F. nutans?. 



