SHEEP'S FESCUE. 



97 



SHEEP'S FESCUE (Festuca ovina), Fig. 68, is known 

 by its narrow panicle ; short, tufted, bristle-shaped 

 leaves, of a grayish color, some- 

 what tinged with red j its spike- 

 lets two to six flowered ; awn 

 often nearly wanting. Its flower 

 is shown magnified in Fig. 69. 



It grows from six to ten 

 inches high, in dense, perennial- 

 rooted tufts, forming an excel- 

 lent pasturage for sheep. It 

 flowers in June and July, in 

 the dry pastures of New Eng- 

 land, westward to Lake Supe- 

 rior, and northward. 



HARD FESCUE GRASS (Festuca 

 duriuscula) is also found to 

 some extent, though not so 

 commonly as the small fescue. 

 It is by some regarded as a 

 variety of the sheep's fescue, 

 taller, and with a panicle more 

 open, leaves flat, and spikelets 

 four to eight flowered. It grows 

 from one to two feet high. 

 Flowers in June, in pastures 

 and waste grounds. 



The RED FES- 

 CUE (Festuca ru- 

 bra), by some re- 

 garded as only a 

 variety of the 

 preceding, is one 



Fig. 68. Sheep's Fescue. Fig. 69. of the largest of 



