318 GRAMlNEJi Fcstuca. 



Tlie typical fonii ami tlu; var. duriuscula luive been collected at various localities in the Sierra 

 Nevada and elsewhere {liolander, Lonmoii), and are found in the mountains eastward to New 

 England and far nortliward. The otlier varieties are liigli alpine and arctic forms, which occur 

 in the Rocky Mountains and Oregon and northward, and are to be expected in the liigii Sierra 

 Nevada. The species in one or mure of its several forms is found in most mountainous countries, 

 including New Zeahmd and Australia. Its foliage is not abundant but very nutritious, and it is 

 liiglily vahied as a pasture gra.ss, especially for sheep. 



5. F. gracillima, Hook. Culms 1 to 2 loet liigli ; phmt mostly smooth tliroii-^li- 

 out : radical leaves cupii)us, narrowly setaceous, reaching nearly or (juite to the hase 

 of the i)anicle ; culm-leaves mostly 2, 2 to 3 inches lung, aljont a lijie wide below, 

 very finely scabrous on the upper surlUce ; ligide brief: panicle 3 to 4 inches long, 

 the erect branches mostly in pairs, the lower soiuetimes in threes or fours, 1-4- 

 llowered, the rhacliis and llattened rays barely scabrous; spikelets about G lines 

 long, G-D-floweretl : the upper and nuich broader 3-nerved gluiue about half as long 

 as its floret, both broadly scarious-margined ; joints of the rhachis scabrous-pubes- 

 cent : florets 3 lines long, rather distant ; lower palet with a small well-deliiieil 

 callus below, intermediate nerves indistinct, herbaceous with a wide scarions margin, 

 obscurely puberulent above, acuminate and mucronate or with a distinct awn about 

 a line long. — Antarct. Voy. 383; Steud. Syn. (Jraiu. 312. 



In the Sierra Nevada, at 8,000 feet altitude, liolandcr. Tliis, with the excei)tion of being 

 shorter awned, agrees well with specimens collected on Magdalena Island by Cunningham ami 

 named at Kew. The jilant was originally collected at the Straits of .Magellan. The foliage, etc., 

 are jiale green, the spikelets being sonietinu's slightly redilisii or brownish. The awn varies 

 greatly, the same j-lant furnishing both awnless and awned llorets. The contrast between the 

 almost liliform radical foliage and the liat leaves of the culms is very marked. It diliers from any 

 form of F. ocina in tiie erect branches of its fewer-llowered panicle, larger spikelets, and broader 

 glumes having with the palets a wide scarious margin. 



G. F. scabrella, Torr. Culms 1 to usually 3 or 4 feet high, crowded below with 

 leafless sheaths, and twice longer than the numerous scabrous radiiud heaves : culm 

 leaves rarely more than 2, the upper 2 to 8 inches long, about 2 lines wide at base, 

 long-pointed ; sheaths scabrous or rough pubescent, hairy at the junction with the 

 blade, and subaurielcd with callused hairy iirocesses ; ligule a ciliate fringe : jjaniclo 

 3 to G inches long, the lower rays distant in ])airs, spreading, naked behjw ; spikelets 

 about G lines long, 4-G-flowered; florets rather ili.stant : ujjjjcr glume ] the longer 

 and half as long as its floret : lower palet membranous, 5-nerved, rough, witli a 

 narrow scarious margin, pointed, or with an aw^n aline long or less; uj>i)er palet 

 conspicuously 2-toothed, e(]nalling or sometimes exceeding the lower. — Jlook. I'l. 

 Bor.-Ain. ii."2r)2, t. 233; Torrey, Pacif. \\. JJep. iv. Uu ; lioland. in Trans. Calif. 

 Agric. Soc. 18G4-5, 141. 



Oakland {Bolntvlcr), also in the Rocky Mountains. The yhmi originally describe.l and figuied 

 was from the Rocky Mountains, and scarcely one-fouith the si/e of the si)eiimens collected within 

 this State. A conipari.sou of these with the original specimens in the Torrey herbarium shows 

 them to be the same excejit in size. It hardly belongs to Fcstaai, and a thorough revision would 

 probably place it with the ambiguous species of J/t/Zm. Among the many sjieeies of dilleieiit 

 genera known as " Ihmch-gra.ss" this is regarded as one of the most valuable, cattle being very 

 fond of it, especially in winter. The blade of the leaf linally laeaks away, leaving the sheath, a 

 peculiarity stated by Mr. Bolander to be very constant. 



7. F. pauciflora, Thunb. Culms IJ to 3 feet high, the radical leaves about 

 half as long; culm leaves sometimes 2 lines wid(^, long attiinuate-poiuted, and with 

 tiie sheaths scabrous; ligule very short, somewhat auriculale : panicle G to 12 inches 

 long, rath(!r narrow ; rays in pairs, the lower very remote, spreading, cajiillary, 

 mostly branched, llower-bearing above the middle; spikelets about 4-flowered : 

 glumes narrow, acute or somewhat obtu.se, the upper about twice as large as the 

 lower and barely half as long as the lirst floret ; rhachis scabrou.s, the florets readily 

 deciduous: lower palet 5-nerved, strongly scabrous, about 3 lines long, with a 

 slender awn about § as long ; upper palet cpiite ecpialling the lower, very rough 

 above : ovary hairy."— Fl. Ja[). 02 ; Munro in iVriy's Jaiian K.vp. ii. 328. F. occi- 



