THE GRASSES OF MAINE. 43 



pound and open ; spikelets from seven to thirteen-flowered ; awns 

 equal to or shorter than the flowering glumes from which they arise. 

 Stamens two. 

 Grows in dry, sterile soil, and flowers in July. 



43. FESTUCA OVINA, Linneus. 

 Fes-tu'-ca o-vi'-na. 



PLATE XX. 



Common Name. Sheep's Fescue. 



Perennial ; stems tufted, erect, from six to eighteen inches high ; 

 leaves narrow, sometimes involute. Panicle from two to four inches 

 long, the branches mostlj 7 single and alternate, erect and few-flow- 

 ered ; spikelets from three to eight-flowered ; glumes acute and 

 narrow ; flowering glume lanceolate, roughish, with a short, rough 

 awn not more than half the length of the flower, or shorter. 



This species is very variable. It flowers in July. 



It is said to form the great bulk of the sheep pastures of the 

 highlands of Scotland, where it is the favorite food of the sheep and 

 where it is believed to be more nutritious than any other grass. It 

 is also said that the Tartars choose to encamp during the summer 

 months where this grass is most abundant, because they believe that 

 it affords the most wholesome food for their grazing animals, espe- 

 cially their sheep. It naturally distributes itself in dry, sandy, or 

 rocky soils, where scarcely any other species would grow, and is 

 without doubt our very best grass for sandy or rocky pastures, but 

 would be of small value for field culture because of its diminutive 

 size. 



Specimens of this grass grown in New Hampshire and analyzed 

 at the. Department of Agriculture in Washington gave, ash 5.03, 

 fat 4.26, nitrogen-free extract 84.18, crude fiber , albumi- 

 noids 6.53, while specimens grown in Washington, cut in full bloom, 

 gave, ash 5.60, fat 2.51, nitrogen-free extract 58.20, crude fiber 

 23.79, albuminoids 9.90. 



