FESTUCA BROMOIDES. 153 



FESTUCA BROMOIDES. 



LINNAEUS. PARNELL. HOOKER AND ARNOTT. SMITH. GREVILLE. 

 BABINGTON. KUNTH. MACREIGHT. DEAKIN. 



PLATE L. A. 



Festuca Myurus, SMITH. (Not of LINN^US.) 



" pseudo-myuru, KOCH. 



" sciuroides, KOCH. 



Vulpia bromoides, DUMORT. LINDLEY. 



The Barren Fescue Grass. 

 Festuca ? Bromoides Wild oats. 



A NOT uncommon but useless agricultural Grass. 

 Found in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, 

 Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland. 



Stem upright, circular, smooth, and slender, carrying three or four 

 short, very narrow, frequently involute leaves, with smooth striated 

 sheaths, the upper one extending considerably beyond its leaf, and 

 having a very brief ligule at its apex. Joints three, smooth. Inflores- 

 cence simple-panicled, long and slender. Spikelets erect, of five awned 

 florets. Calyx of two exceedingly unequal acute glumes, the basal one 

 destitute of lateral ribs, whilst the uppermost one is three-ribbed. 

 Florets of two paleae, the exterior one of basal floret five-ribbed, and 

 of same length as the large glume, ending in a long slender awn. 

 Inner palea lanceolate, having two green marginal ribs. Root annual 

 and fibrous. Length from two to twenty-four inches. 



Flowers in the middle of June, and seeds become ripe in the middle 

 of July. 



Variety nana grows in dry exposed localities, and is very stunted. 



Variety pseudo-myurus somewhat common in corn-fields. 



