SHEEP'S FESCUE 



57 



Sheep's Fescue 



(Festuca ovina, L.) 



This upland grass is 

 widespread, occurring at 

 the present day in the 

 N. Temperate Zone in 

 Europe, N. Africa, Si- 

 beria, Himalayas, N. and 

 S. America, and the 

 mountains of Australasia. 

 Sheep's Fescue grows in 

 every county in Great 

 Britain, as far north as 

 the Shetlands, at all 

 elevations, and in Ire- 

 land and the Channel 

 Islands. 



This is a grass which 

 is more or less confined 

 to a sandy habitat, and 

 though it will grow in 

 the lowlands as in silty 

 deposits of rivers, it shuns 

 clayey formations, but 

 grows on dry pastures 

 and other spots where 

 it can satisfy its sand- 

 loving tendency. 



The stem is erect, 

 growing in dense tufts 

 with curved, bristle-like 

 leaves, the upper ones 

 narrow, flat, rough, with 

 smooth sheaths, and a 

 bilobed ligule. It is 

 a tufted plant, forming 

 a fine and durable turf. 

 The whole plant is bluish- 

 white. 



Photo. H. Irv 



SHEEP'S FESCUE (Festura ovina, L., 

 var. duriuscula, Hackcl) 



