560 ' 



FES 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL: 



FES 



.-traight, branched at the base ; spike from two inches to a foot 

 or more in length ; spikelets remote, two inches long, sharpish, 

 from six to eight flowered; glumes mucronate. Perennial: 

 native of the sandy shores of Provence. 



12. Festuca Fusca. Panicle erect, branched; spikelets 

 sessile, keeled, awnless; culm lofty, branched ; leaves from 

 broadish sheaths, narrow, longitudinally involute, long, subu- 

 late. Native of Palestine. 



13. Festuca Decumbens ; Decumbent Fescue Grass. Pa- 

 nicle upright ; spikelets subovate, awnless ; calix larger than 

 the floscules ; culm decumbent, from a foot to eighteen inches 

 in length, somewhat bulbous at the base, having three knots, 

 lying on the ground, but when in flower, ascending obliquely ; 

 root perennial ; root-leaves narrowish, flat, hairy on the upper 

 surface, especially at the base ; stem-leaves the same, only 

 shorter ; sheaths villose above ; nectaries two, obtuse. It 

 flowers in July and August, and is frequent on moorish ground, 

 in both dry and wet pastures. 



14. Festuca Pauciflora. Panicle effuse; spikelets with about 

 four flowers, awned, and scabrous; leaves villose; culm 

 round, streaked, upright, two feet high ; calices marked with 

 lines, lanceolate, with long awns. Native of Japan. 



15. Festuca Fluitans; Flote Fescue Grass. Panicle branch- 

 ed, erect; spikelets subsessile, cylindric, awnless ; root per- 

 ennial, striking deep into mud ; culm from one to three feet 

 in length, or even much longer in water, creeping at bottom, 

 and sending forth young shoots, afterwards nearly upright, 

 covered with the sheaths of the leaves as far as the panicle ; 

 valves of the corolla equal in length, the lower nerved ; the 

 nerves towards the top frequently coloured, at top mem- 

 branaceous, rather blunt, with uneven points, the upper 

 valve more pointed, flat, and bifid ; nectary a small heart- 

 shaped gland, resembling a scale, placed horizontally at the 

 bottom of the germen ; stigmas very much branched, but 

 the styles not feathered to the germen, as in Schreber's 

 figure, and in the Flora Danica ; seed shining, olive-coloured, 

 with two little horns, and naked. When it has nearly done 

 flowering, the branches of the panicle generally project from 

 the main stalk in an acute angle: in every situation the 

 spikelets are always pressed close to the stalk or branches of 

 the panicle ; this circumstance, joined to the length and 

 roundness of the spikelets, sufficiently characterizes this spe- 

 cies; which being common in ditches, watery places, and slow 

 streams, flowering all the summer, and having the parts of 

 fructification beautiful, and large enough to be distinctly dis- 

 cerned by the naked eye, without the trouble of dissection, 

 is peculiarly adapted "for the investigation of the student. 

 It appears that horses, cows, and hogs, are fond of this srass. 

 Mr. Stillingfleet informs us, that having been told of a field 

 of four acres, always under water, maintaining five farm 

 horses in good heart from April to the end of harvest, with- 

 out any other food ; he obtained some of the grass, and 

 found it to be the Flote Fescue, with a mixture of Marsh-bent. 

 Cows, in spring, are frequently enticed into bogs, by endea- 

 vouring to get al the sweet young shoots of this grass, 

 which appear earlier than those of most other grasses. Pro- 

 fessor Kalm, observing that swine go a great way into the 

 water after the Flote Fescue, and that they eat the leaves 

 with great eagerness, had small bundles of it gathered and 

 dried for hay, which they greedily devoured ; hence he con- 

 cludes, that wet and swampy places might be rendered useful 

 by cultivating t'nis grass. It has been recommended to be 

 sown on meadows that admit flooding; but Mr. Curtis re- 

 marks, that this rass will not flourish, except on land that is 

 constantly under water, or converted into a bog or swamp. 

 The seeds are small, but very sweet and nourishing, and are 



collected in many parts of Germany and Poland, under the 

 name of Schwaden, or manna-seeds, and are reckoned a deli- 

 cacy in soups and gruels. When ground to meal, they make 

 bread very little inferior to that prepared from Wheat; the 

 bran is given to horses that have the worms, but they must 

 not be suffered to drink for some hours afterwards. Geese, 

 and oilier water-fowl, are very fond of the seeds ; so are also 

 fish : trout in particular thrive in those rivers where this grass 

 grows in plenty. Schreber says, that the seeds are collected 

 not only from this grass, but also from Panicum Sanguinale, 

 or Coch's-foot Panic-grass, which is cultivated in several 

 parts of Germany for this purpose. The common method of 

 gathering and preparing them is as follows : At sun-rise, they 

 are gathered or beaten from the dewy grass into a horse-hair 

 sieve, spread on a sheet, and are dried for a fortnight in the 

 sun ; they are then beaten gently with a wooden pestle, in a 

 wooden trough or mortar, with straw laid between them and 

 the pestle, till the chaff comes off, and then they are win- 

 nowed : after this, they are once more put into the mortar or 

 trough in rows, with dried Marigold flowers, Apple and Hazel 

 leaves, and pounded till they appear bright ; they are then 

 winnowed again, and being made perfectly clean by this last 

 process, are fit for use. The Marigolds are added, to give 

 the seeds a finer colour. The most proper time for collecting 

 the seed is in July. A bushel of seed with the chaff, yields 

 only about two quarts of clean seed. Mr. Curtis has ob- 

 served a disorder in the ear of this grass, similar to that 

 which has been noticed by the French in Rye, and called by 

 them Ergot. 



16. Festuca Pratensis ; Meadow Fescue Grass. Panicle 

 directed one way, obliqu-e; spikelets without awns, almost 

 linear ; leaves flat. This has been often confounded with the 

 eighth species, from which it differs, in having only half its 

 height or little more ; the leaves only half the breadth ; the 

 panicle shorter, and containing about half the number of flowers. 

 The panicle is but once branched, droops but slightly, leans 

 to one side when in flower, and the flowers all grow in one 

 way. This is also more common and less local than the 

 Elatior, being found more dispersed in open meadows, and 

 does not form such large tufts ; they differ a fortnight or three 

 weeks in their time of flowering. Mr. Curtis, who has culti- 

 vated it, recommends it among the six grasses, which he pre- 

 fers before all others, and particularly for land either moist or 

 moderately dry. This, says he, comes nearest in appearance 

 to Lnlium Perenne, or Ray Grass, to which, however, it seems 

 in many respects greatly superior, at least for the purpose of 

 forming or improving meadows ; it is larger, and more pro- 

 ductive of foliage ; is strictly perennial, very hardy, and it 

 found in all situations, from the sand-pits at Charlton, to the 

 Osier grounds at Battersea, and abounds in the very best 

 meadows about London ; in short, there is no grass more 

 likely to supply the deficiencies complained of in Ray Grass. 

 One quality it has, which bids fair to introduce it quickly into 

 general use ; it produces more seeds than any of the others, 

 which are easily gathered, and readily grow. In one respect 

 it is inferior to Vernal Meadow Fox-tail, and Smooth-stalked 

 Meadow Grass (Poa Pratensis ;) it does not produce its 

 flowering-stems earlier than about the middle of June, a fort- 

 night or three weeks later than Meadow Fox-tail Grass ; yet 

 it cannot be considered as a late grass, for the most of the 

 Agrostis genus, and Meadow Cat's-tail Grass, (Phleum Pra- 

 tcnse,) flower at least three weeks later. 



17. Festuca Cristata. Panicle spiked, lobed ; spikeleU 

 ovate, broad, six-flowered, hirsute ; culms many, scarcely the 

 length of a finger. Native of Portugal, on barren bills. 



18. Festuca Calicina ; Bearded-leaved Fescue Grass. Pa- 



