TiiK (iHASSEs OF Tennessee. 115 



or subulate, rounded on the back, scabrous above, endin;^ in a slen- 

 der awn; awn nearly as long as the glume, or shorter, and even 

 sometimes wanting. 



Dry, sterile soils, common. May— June. Of no agricultural 



value. 



-V Festuca Myurus Linn. 



IMat.' XL. Fi-ure ir,9. 



An erect or ascending, rather slender annual, one to two feet 

 high, wnth a narrow, somewhat one-sided panicle five to ten inches 

 long. Sheaths smooth, ligule short, auricled, leaf-blade very nar- 

 row, involute in drying, smooth or scabrous on the upper surface. 

 Panicle branches erect, appressed. Spikelets narrow, four to six 

 lines long exclusive of the slender awns; empty glumes very un- 

 equal, the first one-half to one line long, the second two to three 

 lines long; flowering glumes two to three lines long, nearly terete, 

 scabrous above and usually with a few long hairs on the margins, 

 awned. Awn four to six lines long. Palea slender, acute, sca- 

 brous on the keels above. Grain linear, one and one-half lines 

 long, pubescent at the apex. 



In open, dry fields, not common. June — July. 



3. Festuca ovina Linn. vSheep's Fescue. 



Plate XL. Plate IfiO. 



A rather low, densely cespitose grass, with numerous and very 

 narrow basal leaves, slender culms a foot high or less. Roots 

 fibrous, with no creeping rootstocks. Leaves closely folded, ap- 

 pearing setaceous; ligule auriculate. Panicle short, somewhat 

 one-sided, the usually solitary branches spreading in flower. 

 Spikelets three- to seven-flowered; flowering glumes about three 

 lines long, nearly terete, mucronate or short-awned. 



Only sparingly introduced in cultivation. A valuable grass for 

 sheep pastures. It is well suited for light, dry soils, especially 

 those which are thin and silicious. 



4 Festuca rubra Linn. var. glaucescens Hack. Tennessee Fescue. 

 Plate XLI. Fip:ure 1(51. 



A slender perennial, one to two feet high, with erect or ascend- 

 ing stems, and very narrow, usually glaucous leaves. Rootstock 

 creeping. Sheaths and leaves smooth; the lower leaves twelve to 

 eighteen inches long, those above on the culm shorter and mi- 

 nutely strigose on the upper surface. Panicle lax, nodding. Spike- 

 lets four to five lines long, five- to six-flowered; empty glumes un- 

 equal, the first one and one-half lines long and one-nerved, the 

 second two to three lines long and three-nerved; flowering glumes 

 about three lines long, mucronate or short awn-pointed, scabrous 

 near the apex. 



Along the Cumberland river near Nashville (Gattinger). 



This grass is closely related to the Red or Creeping Fescue of 

 Europe and of our more northern States, and possesses a similar 

 habit of grow^th. It is an excellent turf-forming grass, and will 



I 



