308 GRAMINB^E. [Fvttuca. 



nate, or awned at the summit. Named from the Celtic word 

 fest, according to Theis, which signifies food, pasturage. 



Triandria. Dlgynia. 



1. F. ovina, Linn. Sheep's Fescue-grass. Panicle sub- 

 secund, subcoarctate ; spikelets oblong, of about four to five 

 flowers with short awns ; culms square upward ; leaves seta- 

 ceous. Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 48. E. FL v. i. p. 139. E. Bot. 

 t. 585. /?. (Sm.) rubra ; panicle purplish. F.ntbra, With. 

 7. (Sm.) casia; plant glaucous. E. FL F. ccesia, E. Bot. 

 t. 1917. S. vivipara ; plant taller; flowers viviparous. F. 

 ovina, /3. Linn, ffook. 7. Sckrad. F. vivipara, E. Bot. 

 t. 1355. E. Fl. v. i. p. 140. 



Ahundant on dry elevated pastures. S. On the tops of our highest 

 mountains. FL June, July. 1(1. Leaves mostly short, often curved, 

 smooth or slightly scabrous, much tufted, and affording excellent food 

 for sheep. Culm four to eight inches or a foot high, in the upper part 

 more or less distinctly four-sided. Calyx-valves much shorter than 

 the corolla, acute, subglabrous. Corolla t ext. valve more or less 

 glabrous, sometimes pubescent upward. Whole plant more or less 

 glaucous, and having a purple tint in the spikelets. 



2. F. duriuscula, Linn. Hard Fescue-grass. Panicle sub- 

 secund, subcoarctate ; spikelets oblong, of about six flowers, 

 with short awns; stem-leaves nearly plane, radicle ones sub- 

 setaceous ; root fibrous. Br. FL ed. 3. p. 49. E. Fl. v. i. 

 p. 141. E. Bot. t. 470. 



Pastures, waste ground, and tops of walls, frequent. FL June, July. 

 li . The leaves on the stem are sometimes convolute, and then they 

 appear setaceous. One to one and a half foot high, by which size and 

 its stouter habit it may be readily distinguished from F. ovina. 



3. F. rubra, Linn. Creeping Fescue-grass. Panicle uni- 

 lateral, spreading ; florets longer than their awns ; leaves downy 

 on their upper side, more or less involute ; root extensively 

 creeping. Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 49. E. FL v. i. p. 141. E. Bot. 

 t. 2056. 



Light sandy pastures near the sea, common. FL July. 1. Root 

 creeping, often extending many feet in the sand. 



4. F. bromoides, Linn. Barren Fescue-grass. Panicle se- 

 cund, racemed ; florets shorter than the awn, monandrous ; 

 culm above leafless. Br. FL ed. 3. p. 49. E. Fl. v. i. p. 162. 

 E. Bot.t. 1411. 



Dry pastures and on walls. Plentiful on Killiney-hill, and fields 

 near Enniskerry and other places in the County of Wicklow. FL 

 June. 0. Six to eight inches high. Leaves linear, setaceous, com- 

 plicate ; calyx-valves very unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, nerved, 

 rough at the keel. Florets about six in each spikelet. Ext. valve 

 of corolla linear-lanceolate, scabrous, tapering into a straight awn, 

 thrice the length of the valve. 



5. F. Hyurus t Linn. Wall Fescue-grass. Panicle secund, 



