189 



Vernacular name. " Hard Fescue." 

 Where figured. Buchanan. 



Botanical description (B. FL, vii, 663). An erect perennial of 1 to 

 2 feet, 



Leaves chiefly at the base, very narrow, almost setaceous. 



Panicle loose but narrow, 2 to 4 inches long, with few erect branches. 



Spikelets not numerous, erect, usually about ^ inch long, four- to six-flowered. 



Glumes rather rigid, the outer ones pointed, the lowest very narrow, keeled, scarcely 



2 lines long, the second rather longer, three-nerved. 

 Flowering glumes 3 lines long or rather more, faintly nerved, glabrous or pubescent, 



with a fine point or awn, usually about 1 line long. 

 Palea with a fine bifid point. 

 Stamens three. 



Value as a fodder. -A useful pasture grass for the colder regions of 

 the Colony. It grows well in hilly places, and is one of the best of the 

 smaller fescues. It forms a close turf.- All kinds of stock eat it 

 readily, although it is somewhat harsh. Seed may be procured of 

 most seedsmen. 



Habitat and range. Found in all the Colonies except Western Aus- 

 tralia and Queensland. In New South Wales, apparently confined to 

 the mountainous districts of the south-east. " One of the most widely 

 dispersed forms of the sheep's fescue or F. ovina, Linn. Very 

 abundant on downs and hilly pastures of the temperate regions of the 

 New and Old World/' (Bentham.) 



Sub-tribe v. Hordeacese. 

 99. Agropyrum. | 101. Lepturus. 



99. AGROPYKUM. 



Spikelets several-flowered, more or less flattened, distichous, and 

 alternately sessile on the continuous or slightly notched rhachis of a 

 simple spike, one face of the spikelet next the general rhachis, the 

 rhachis of the spikelet more or less articulate under the flowering 

 glumes. 



Glumes rounded on the back or scarcely keeled, tapering into points 

 or awns, the flowering ones three- to seven-nerved, the two outer empty 

 ones usually shorter, narrower, three- or rarely one-nerved. 



Palea nearly as long as the glume, the two prominent nerves almost 

 marginal, scabrous-ciliate. 



Ovary pubescent at the top. 



Styles short, distinct. 



Grain free or slightly adhering to the palea. 



Spikelets narrow with long awns, erect and distant along the rhachis... 1. A. scabrum. 

 Spikelets broad, with short points or awns, erect and close together 



along the rhachis ... ... ... ... ... 2. A. velutinum. 



Spikelets very flat, with short points or awns, spreading or at length 



reflexed and not distant along the rhachis 3. A. pectinatum* 



