5i6 



THE NATURE BOOK 



and also in 

 the expand- 

 e d glumes 

 themselves. 

 A gathered 

 spike will 

 eve ntually 

 assume a 

 singularly 

 ragged ap- 

 pearance ; all 

 these sec- 

 tions depart 

 from the 

 vertical char- 

 acter to that 

 of most vari- 

 able angles, 

 all starting 



N away from 



W J, \ i each other. 



^11 / The branch- 



j# 'I \l 11 / ^^^^ recurve 



upon them- 

 selves, or 

 make a sharp 

 up-turn from 

 the main 

 direction of 

 growth ; the 

 glumes start 

 out sharply, 

 and instead 

 of the 



smooth, neat 

 look of the spike originally expressed, one 

 might say its " coat stares," the meta- 

 morphose is so complete. The illustration 

 shows something of this in the lowest 

 branchlet of the right-hand specimen, 

 and also in the two upper ones of the 

 second ; the third specimen shows the 

 branchlets starting out at alternate sharp 

 angles from the main stem. 



Most river-banks and smaller streams 

 have the Tall Fescue {Festiica clatior) 

 fringing the edges in company witli the 

 reeds, rushes, and water-loving plants 

 such as the Great Willow Herb, Purple 

 Loosestrife, and the like. It is a grass 

 that adds well to the jungle of the river- 

 bank, for it is often the imposing height 

 of six feet, with a flower panicle of ten 

 inches. There is a harsh character gix-cn to 

 the panicle by reason of the glumes being 

 riljbed and sharply pointed, a character- 



FLOTE GRASS. 



istic which is accentuated when in the dry 

 state. The blades are flat, smooth, and 

 ribbon-like in appearance. Sometimes 

 the elaborate panicle is represented by a 

 more sunple spike, which hangs its 

 branchlets all to one side. Whether the 

 plant determines the one-sidedness, or if 

 it be accidental, is difficult to ascertain ; 

 for the prevalence of a certain wind in 

 one stage of the development of the 

 flower-head may atf ect the formation. One 

 has to make a great number of observa- 

 tions before final conclusions can be sifted 

 from them. It is impossible to go many 



THE TALL FESCUE. 



yards along a river-bank before one's list 

 of observations is considerably added to, 

 which is fair testimony- to the amount of 

 interest tlie locality possesses. 



Tlic Tall Fescue is quite at home also 

 in damp pastures where a stream may 



