1228 



FERTILIZERS 



FESTUCA 



date the.v will result in prolonging the growing period 

 and delay the ripening of the fruit. 



Peas and beans. 



Peas are usually much more helped by liming than 

 beans. The latter vary widely in their lime require- 

 ment as shown by the fact that on a soil so greatly in 

 need of lime that the Golden Wax and Low's Champion 

 (a green-podded variety) will scarcely produce half a 

 crop, the pole Horticultural bean is only slightly 

 benefited, and the lima bean is practically indifferent 

 to it. 



Notwithstanding that these plants are capable of 

 assimilating atmospheric nitrogen, it is nevertheless 

 usually desirable, especially when they are grown to 

 be marketed in the green state, to employ a fertilizer 

 containing a small or moderate amount of readily 

 available nitrogen. This will aid in developing a root- 

 system until such a time as the plants can draw their 

 nitrogen supply to a considerable extent from the air. 



Peas and beans also require moderate amounts of 

 potash and phosphoric acid, in fact much more than 

 would be the case if they did not grow so rapidly, and 

 hence reach the crop-producing stage in a short inter- 

 val of time. The common white field bean has been 

 found to require potash more than phosphoric acid, 

 under conditions in which the cereals and the common 

 farm crops showed a greater response to the latter. 



H. J. Wheeler. 



FERULA (old Latin name, perhaps from the verb 

 to strike; possibly the stems were anciently used as 

 ferules). U mbelliferse . Giant Fennel. Hardy .strik- 

 ing herbs, prized for their spring and early summer 

 foliage. 



Stout perennial glabrous usually glaucous thick- 

 rooted herbs, of perhaps 50 species in S. Eu., N. Afr., 

 and W. Asia: Ivs. pinnatelj- decompound, the ultimate 

 segms. filiform or small (rarely broadish and dentate): 

 fls. small, in elevated compound many-radiate umbels; 

 petals broad, mostly ovate-acute, the point often 

 inflexed: fr. orbicular or ovate, piano-compressed, 

 membranous-bordered. — The giant fennels are valued 

 for the excessive fineness with which their foUage is cut, 

 and their clusters of perhaps 40-50 umbels of minute 

 yellow fls. borne on stout sts., which rise far above the 

 foliage. In spring the masses of foliage are very 

 refreshing. The bold fl.-sts. make the plants useful 

 for bordering plantations and for stream sides. The 

 ferulas yield gum-ammoniac, galbanum and asafetida. 

 The genus is now held to include Narthex, Scorodosma 

 and Euryangium. The.se plants are not to be con- 

 founded with the true fennels, which belong in Foeni- 

 culum. Ferula is closely allied to Peucedanum. The 

 species are difficult to represent in herbaria, and they 

 are confused. 



commiinis, Linn. Common Giant Fennel. Robust, 

 8-12 ft.: Ivs. fight green, very numerous, forming a 

 fine mound or clump, the segms. linear-setaceous; If.- 

 sheaths very large: fls. }'ellow; central umbel on a 

 branch nearly sessile, and the surrounding ones stalked 

 and mostly male. S. Eu. to Syria. — Presumably the 

 F. gigantea of trade fists belongs here, although F. 

 gigantea, Fedtsch., of Cent. Asia, is recognized botani- 

 cally. 



Var. brevifSlia, Mariz. (F. hrenfblia, Link. F. 

 Linkii, Webb & Berth. F. nodiflbra, Guss.). Ulti- 

 mate If.-segms. shorter than in the type. The gum- 

 ammoniac of Morocco comes from this plant. B.M. 

 8157. See history in Kew Bulletin, 1907, pp. 375-388. 



tingitana, Linn. {F. sdnela, Boiss.). Robust, the st. 

 leafy below, paniculate-corymbose above: Ivs. triangu- 

 lar-ovate, quarternate pinnatisect, the segms. narrow- 

 oblong and cut: fls. orange, in globose umbels. N. Afr. 

 B.M. 7267. — Long supposed to be the source of gum- 

 ammoniac. Probably not in the trade. 



glailca, Linn. {F. neapolitdna, Tenore). Very taU 

 (to 14 ft.), branching: Ivs. large, pinnately decom- 

 pound; segms. flaccid and broad-linear, obtusish and 

 1-nerved, green above and glaucous beneath: bracts 

 at base of peduncles membranaceous, oblong, deciduous: 

 fls. yellow, in many umbels. S. France to Dalmatia. 

 G.C. 111.32:441, 442. 



F. Assafiitida, Lirm. (Assafcetida disgunensis, Kaempf. Scoro- 

 dosma foetidxim, Bunge). St. 6-12 ft., very stout and much- 

 branched: lv9. puberulous and minutely glandular or somewhat 

 tomentosc, the radical ones large and ternatisect with segms. oblong- 

 lanceolate and obtuse: umbels on fleshy peduncles, 20-30-rayed, 

 the fls. yellow. S. W. Asia. G.C. III. 32:44.3. An evil-smelling 

 plant, one source of the drug asafetida. — F. Ndrthex, Boiss. (Narthex 

 Asafcetida, Falconer). St. 6-8 ft., with large sheaths: Ivs. pubescent 

 when young, 1-2 ft. long, ovate, the segms. either entire or 

 irregularly serrate. S.W.Asia. B.M. 5168. A source of asafetida. 

 A specimen described in G. F. 3, p. 523, required 16 years to attain 

 sufficient strength to bloom. L H B 



FESTUCA (ancient Latin name for a kind of grass). 

 Graminese. Fescue-Grass. Annual or perennial grasses 

 grown for ornament or as pasture grasses. 



Blades narrow: infl. few-fld., paniculate; spikelets 

 2- to several-fld.; lemmas firm, rounded on the back, 

 usually acute or awTied from the tip. — Species about 

 100, in the temperate and cooler parts of the world. 



A. Spikelets awnless: blades flai, £-4 lines wide. 

 elatior, Linn. Tall or Meadow Fescue. One to 

 3 ft.: spikelets 5-8-fld., about J^in. long. G. 8:179. 

 Gn. 25, p. 428. — Frequently cult, as a meadow or pasture 

 grass. The form called F. pratensis is rather smaller 

 and has narrower panicles (Dept. Agric., Div. Agrost. 

 20:1.55), sometimes sold under the name Bromus 

 pratensis, meadow brome-grass. Eu. 



AA. Spikelets awned: blades narrow involute. 

 B. Sts. hose and decumbent at base. 



rfibra, Linn. Rei> 

 Fescue. One - half 

 to 2 ft.: base of sts. 

 usually red. Eu. — 

 Occasionally used 

 in mixtures for pas- 

 tures. 



BB. Sts. in close 

 erect tufts. 

 c. St.-blades flat, the basal 

 blades long and slender. 

 heterophylla, Lam. 

 Various - leaved Fes- 

 cue. Fig. 1498. One to 

 3 feet., slender: panicle 

 rather loose; spikelets 

 4-6-fld. Eu.— Cult, as a 

 lawn grass in shady 

 places. 



CO. St.- and basal blades 

 involute. 



ovina, Linn. Sheep's 

 Fescue. Fig. 1499. Six 

 to 20 in.: panicle con- 

 tracted after flowering, 

 2-A in. long. Eu. Dept. 

 Agric, Div. Agrost. 20: 

 281. — Sown in mixtures 

 for pastures. 



gla&ca. Lam. (F. onna 

 var. glaiica, Hack.). 

 Blue Fe.scue. Resem- 

 bles F. ovina but has 

 silvery blue, or glaucous 

 foliage. Eu. — Used for 

 borders. 



duriuscula, Linn. {F. 

 1498. Festuca heterophylla. ( X M) ovl7ia var. duriiiscula,. 



