96 THE FESCUE GEA8SES. 



35. Beiza: Quaking Grass. 



Glumes roundish, unequal, of a purple color. Spike- 

 lets many-flowered, heart-shaped; lower pale roundish 

 and entire ; upper smaller, egg-shaped, flat ; leaves flat, 

 stamens three. 



Quaking Geass {Briza media) is sometimes met with 

 in the pastures of Massachusetts and in Pennsylvania. 

 Panicle erect, with very slender, spreading branches, 

 and large, purplish, tremulous spikelets, from five to 

 nine flowered ; inner glume finely fringed, entire at the 

 end. It is shown in Fig. 66. In Fig. 67 is shown a 

 magnified spikelet. 



It is a very beautiful, light, slender grass, about a 

 foot high, perennial. 'Flowering in June and July. 

 There is an annual, the Large Quaking Grass {Briza 

 maxima), with large, many-flowered spikes, cultivated 

 in gardens for ornament, and gathered for vases as an 

 interesting curiosity. 



36. Fbstuca. Fescue Grasses. 



The characters of this genus are oblong spikelets, 

 somewhat compressed, from three to many flowered ; 

 two very unequal glumes, pointed ; palese roundish on 

 the back ; from three to five nerved ; awn pointed or 

 bristle-shaped ; stamens three ; flowers harsh, often 

 purplish ; panicle nearly erect ; leaves narrow, rigid, of 

 a grayish green. 



Small Fescue .Grass (Festuca tenella). — The small 

 fescue has a spike-like panicle, somewhat one-sided, 

 from seven to nine flowered ; awn of the awl-shaped 

 palea slender ; leaves bristle-formed ; stem slender, six 

 to twelve inches high. . It flourishes on dry and sterile 

 soils, and is common from New England to Illinois and 

 Wisconsin. Flowers in July. 



