GRASS FAMILY. 385 



with the culm of a bluish-green or glaucous hue ; sheaths rather loose, striate ; ligule 

 short, obtuse. Panicle contracted , at first almost spicate and rather secund, finally a 

 little expanding* the branches by twos and threes, short, somewhat flexuose and scabrous. 

 Spikelets generally 5-6-flowered, subsessile. Glumes nearly equal, acute, serrulate on 

 the keel. Lower palea minutely pubescent, often dark purple near the apex, with a nar- 

 row white scarious margin ; upper palea scabrous on the two keels. Caryopsis oblong, 

 reddish-brown. 

 Upland fields and pastures. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This species which, though rarely if ever cultivated, yet finds 

 its way into most pastures is not held in so high estimation, by our 

 farmers, as the one next preceding, and certainly falls far short of it, 

 in the quantity of herbage afforded ; but that which is afforded is, in my 

 opinion, even more nutritious. Cows which feed on it, yield the richest 

 milk, and finest butter. The creeping roots (or rhizomas) are remarkably 

 tenacious of life, and in consequence, are sometimes rather troublesome, 

 in cultivated grounds, among other crops ; but, on the whole, it is an 

 excellent grass especially in dairy and sheep pastures. It seems rather 

 probable that this as well as all the preceding species has been intro- 

 duced from Europe, although they are found in some situations where 

 they appear to be indigenous. 



14. FESTU'CA, L. FESCUE-GRASS. 



[The ancient Latin name.] 



Spikelets rather dry and harsh, 3 - many-flowered, panicled or racemose ; 

 florets not cobwebby at base. Glumes unequal, mostly keeled, shorter 

 than the florets. Lower palea subcoriaceous, convex on the back, not 

 scariously margined, more or less 3 - 5-nerved, acute, pointed, often bristle- 

 awned ; the upper one adhering to the grain in most of the species, but 

 free in the one mentioned here. Stamens mostly 3. 



1. F. ELA'TIOR, L. Panicle contracted before and after flowering, 

 branches short ; spikelets crowded, 5 - 10-flowered ; the florets rather re- 

 mote, oblong-lanceolate, awnless. 



TALLER FESTUCA. Tall Fescue. Meadow Fescue. 



Plant glabrous. Root perennial. Culm 2-3 feet high. Leaves 4 -6 or 8 inches long 

 (the radical leaves numerous and longer), lance-linear, acuminate, nerved, shining be- 

 neath, scabrous on the margin ; sheaths nerved ; ligule very short or obsolete. Panicle 

 4-6 or 8 inches long, somewhat secund, mostly erect, the branches generally single, but 

 often subdivided. Spikelets about 7-flowered, racemose on the branches, often purplish. 

 Glumes unequal, the lower one keeled, the upper one larger, 3-nerved, scarious on the 

 margin. Lower palea obscurely 5-ncrved, somewhat acute but not acuminate normucro- 

 nate ; upper palea white, with 2 green keels, and the margins doubled or folded in. 



Fertile pasture fields and meadows, road-sides, &c. : introduced. Native of Europe. 

 Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This is a valuable grass commonly mingled with Poa pra- 

 tensis, L., in good soils ; but easily distinguished from that plant, by 

 its tapering slender-pointed shining leaves. It is extensively naturalized 

 in the middle and northern States ; and although I have never known it 

 to be cultivated, it soon finds its way into all rich pasture lands. There 

 17 



