

G63 



BUFFALO BUNCHGRASS 



Festu'ca scabrel'la, syns. F. campes'tris, F. hal'lii 



Flower head (panicle) narrow, 

 2 to 10 in. long; panicle branches 

 harsh, usually in pairs, 2 to 5 

 in. long, bearing the individual 

 flower groups (spikelets) to- 

 wards their tips 



Spikelets 2- to 7-flowered, of- 

 ten dull or purplish-colored, 

 about K in- long- 



Outer flower bract (lemma) 

 firm, slightly harsh (scabrous), 

 oblong, 5-veined (nerved), 

 keeled near tip, sharp-pointed 

 or short bristle- (awn-) tipped 



Lowest (2) spikelet bracts 

 (glumes) unequal, smooth or 

 scabrous near tip; 1st glume 

 lance-shaped, 1-nerved, slightly 

 shorter than the egg-shaped- 

 lanceolate, 3-nerved 2d glume 



Stalks (culms) scabrous or 

 smooth, rather stout, densely 

 tufted, erect, up to 4 ft. tall, 

 often somewhat spreading at 



Leaves mostly basal, usually 

 scabrous, firm, inrolled, sharp- 

 pointed at tips, usually 4 to 12 

 in. long, rarely up to 20 in. long, 

 the blades tending to break off 

 from the sheaths; upper stem 

 leaves few, short (about 2. in. 

 long), their sheaths rough; 

 lower leaf sheaths smooth, 

 enlarged at base, persistent on 

 the stalks after leaf blades 

 break off 



Roots numerous, fibrous; 

 rootstocks lacking 



