OTHER IMPORTANT FORAGE GRASSES 85 



the country, especially in eastern Kansas, the species 

 is known as English bluegrass. This is an unfortunate 

 application of the name as it is more properly applied 

 to Poa compressa, and because the species in question 

 does not belong to the bluegrass group. 



Botanical Name. — Festuca elatior L. Festuca is an 

 old Latin name applied to a kind of grass. The specific 

 name, meaning taller, refers to its comparative height, 

 the plant being taller than the other species described 

 at the same time. The species has also been known as 

 Festuca pratensis Huds. The two names, however, apply 

 to the same form. As mentioned elsewhere, there are 

 two forms of the species, one called meadow fescue as 

 already described. The other is called tall fescue. This 

 second form is more robust and has a larger, more open 

 panicle. Some botanists have applied the name Festuca 

 pratensis to the first and F. pratensis var. elatior, or F. 

 elatior to the second. The original descriptions of 

 F. elatior and F. pratensis apply to the same form, the 

 taller form not having received a distinct botanical name. 

 The differences between the forms are agricultural rather 

 than botanical. 



JOHNSON GRASS 



Johnson grass is one of the most important hay- 

 grasses for the Southern States. It is palatable, nutri- 

 tious, a vigorous grower and yields large crops. It 

 thrives best on alluvial bottoms and is especially adapted 

 to the black prairie soils of Alabama and Texas. John- 

 son grass is somewhat tender and will not stand the cold 

 winters of the North but can be grown successfully 

 throughout the southern humid region, that is, the 



