72 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



RED FESCUE (Festuca rubra L.) 



Plate ii; Seed, Plate 26, Fig. 18. 



Other English name: Creeping Fescue. 



Botanical description: Red Fescue is perennial with long, 

 creeping, underground rootstocks, from the joints of which the 

 overground stems and shoots arise. For this reason no real tufts are 

 formed, but more or less extended mats with scattered stems develop. 

 The latter are from eighteen to thirty-six inches high, smooth and 

 round. Secondary shoots arise from buds within the sheaths of old 

 basal leaves. When developing, the shoots break through the sheaths 

 at their base, tearing them into strips. The ragged brown scales and 

 threads, which are always present at the base of the stems and 

 shoots of Red Fescue, represent the remnants of the sheaths. Red 

 Fescue can easily be distinguished from Sheep's Fescue by these 

 tattered sheaths. The leaves are rolled up in the bud, as in Sheep's 

 Fescue; but while in the latter all the leaves are permanently rolled 

 up, in Red Fescue only the basal ones persist in that condition, the 

 stem leaves being flat when developed except in very dry, hot 

 weather. The flowers are in a panicle like that of Sheep's Fescue, 

 although as a rule it is larger and often a little nodding. The spike- 

 lets, each of which contains from four to six flowers, are variously 

 coloured but often reddish-brown hence the name Red Fescue. The 

 outer glume of the flower has an awn, which is generally longer than 

 in Sheep's Fescue. 



Geographical distribution: It is distributed about the same 

 as Sheep's Fescue. 



Habitat : Red Fescue grows naturally in meadows and pastures, 

 along seashores and on mountains, and in open fields as well as in 

 woods. 



Cultural conditions: It is a little more particular about the 

 soil than is Sheep's Fescue; it does not thrive in extremely dry or 

 too compact land, or where it cannot develop its creeping root 

 system. It does best in loose, sandy or gravelly soil, when sufficient 

 moisture is available. It is fairly resistant to drought, although not 

 in the same degree as is Sheep's Fescue, and it stands severe cold 

 without injury. Its creeping root system being superficial, it is able 

 to develop in shallow soil. 



