FESTUCA PRATENSIS. 



MEADOW FESCUE. 



Eootstock perennial, creeping. Stems 18 inches 

 to 3 feet, tufted, erect, and smooth. Leaves flat 

 and smooth ; sheath smooth ; ligule short. Panicle 

 si^reading, but closer and narrower than in F. elatior, 

 with fewer branches. Spikelets many-flowered, lan- 

 ceolate. Empty glumes shorter than flowering glumes, 

 unequal and acute. Flowering glumes rough, and 

 slightly awned. Palea acute and ribbed, with hairy 

 nerves. Flowers June and July. Grows on good 

 pastures throughout Europe and Northern Asia. 



ANALYSIS. 



142 



