Thurber fescue is a robust, densely tufted, perennial bunchgrass, 



f rowing up to a little over 3 feet tall, in rather large bunches. Prof, 

 ven Nelson 1 states that, in southwestern Wyoming, this hand- 

 some, bluegrasslike plant forms "large compact sods on the edge 

 of the thickets along the mountain streams." While under optimum 

 conditions, such as Professor Nelson describes, this grass may grow 

 thickly enough to simulate a sod, its lack of underground stems 

 (rootstocks) precludes it from being a truly turf-forming species. 



The range of Thurber fescue is more restricted than that of most 

 western fescues, its distribution apparently being limited to Wyo- 

 ming, Colorado, Utah, and northern New Mexico. Its common 

 habitat is in the higher mountains at elevations up to 12,000 feet, 

 and in open parks, open stands of spruce, aspen, and ponderosa 

 pine, on hillsides and ridges, and in meadows. It prefers a sandy 

 loam soil, although it is able to grow in the heavier clay loams. It 

 is common throughout its range, is often abundant locally, and 

 sometimes occurs in almost pure stands. 



Although reports as to the forage value of Thurber fescue vary 

 somewhat in different localities, it is generally conceded to be better 

 for cattle and horses than for sheep and goats. A large number of 

 leaves are produced, but the roughness of the leaf blades somewhat 

 impairs the palatability for sheep. In general, it is rated as a 

 valuable forage grass for all classes of livestock, but especially for 

 cattle and horses. It is palatable and usable for grazing until snow 

 in the fall. 



Thurber fescue flowers in July and seed is disseminated during 

 August. Except for the vegetative enlargement of the bunches by 

 tillering, the sole method of reproduction is by seed. 



Thurber fescue resembles the more northern species, buffalo bunch- 

 grass (F. scdbrella) rather closely in habit of growth and roughness 

 of the leaves. In fact, some botanists have regarded it as a variety 

 of buffalo bunchgrass, under the name F. scabrella vaseyana. 

 Certain others hold it to be a synonym of buffalo bunchgrass. 

 Thurber fescue is perhaps most readily distinguished by its con- 

 spicuously elongated (nearly one-fourth of an inch long) ligule or 

 papery bract at the junction of leaf blade and leaf sheath. 



This species is named in honor of its discoverer, Dr. George 

 Thurber (1821-90), botanist, quartermaster of the United States- 

 Mexican Boundary Commission (1850), who collected the plants 

 on which Dr. Gray's book Plantae Thurberianae is based. Thurber 

 was professor of botany and horticulture at Michigan Agricultural 

 College 1859-63, and editor of the American Agriculturist 1863-90. 

 His influence on American agricultural education and research has 

 been profound. Many western plants bear his name. 



1 Nelson, A. THE BED DESERT OF WYOMING AND ITS FOKAGE RESOURCES. U. S. Dept 

 Agr., Div. Agrost. Bull. 13, 72 pp., illus. 1898. 



