Festuca. | LXXXIX. GRAMINEZ. 533 
tinctly 5-ribbed; but the more the panicle is branched the narrower and 
more pointed are the glumes, with less distinct ribs, and sometimes with a 
distinct but exceedingly short awn. 
In meadows and moist pastures, on banks and riversides, throughout 
Europe and temperate Asia, except the extreme north. Common in 
Britain. Fl. summer, rather early. The three most marked British 
forms, often considered as species, but now generally admitted to be mere 
varieties, are the following :— 
a. FE’. loliacea, Curt. Spikelets almost sessile, in a simple spike. Grows 
with the common form, always passing gradually into it. 
b. #. pratensis, Huds. Panicle slightly branched but close. In meadows 
and pastures. 
c. F. arundinacea, Schreb. A taller, often reed-like plant, with broader 
leaves, the panicle more branched and spreading. On banks of rivers, and 
in wet places, especially near the sea, 
3, FE. sylvatica, Vill. (fig. 1224). Reed Fescue.—A tall, reed-like 
perennial, with rather broad, flat leaves, and a rather compact panicle, 4 
to 6 inches long. Spikelets numerous, smaller even than in F’ ovina, 
seldom containing more than 4 or 5flowers. Outer glumes much narrower 
than in the two preceding species, and often almost subulate. Flowering 
glumes about 2 lines long, tapering into a fine point, but not distinctly 
awned. J. Calamaria, Sm. 
In mountain woods, in central Europe, from central France and northern 
Italy to southern Scandinavia, and eastward to the Russian frontier. In 
Britain, thinly scattered over a large area, both in Great Britain and 
Ireland, more prevalent in northern than in southern England, but un- 
known in the north of Scotland. £0. summer. 
4, EF. Myurus, Linn. (fig. 1225). Rat’s-tail Fescue.—A tufted annual, 
usually about a foot high. Leaves narrow and convolute as in F. ovina. 
Panicle slender and one-sided, 2 to 6 inches long, contracted, sometimes 
spike-like or even reduced to a simple spike; the branches always short 
and erect. Spikelets of the size of those of F. ovina, but the glumes 
- narrower, the outer ones very unequal, the flowering ones ending in an awn 
at least as long as themselves. 
In waste places, on walls, roadsides, &c., in central and southern 
Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus and northward into southern 
Scandinavia. In Britain, rather frequent in England and Ireland, less so 
in Scotland. FV. early summer. There are two marked varieties often 
considered as species, the true F. Myurus (including Ff’. ambigua, Le Gall.), 
with a panicle of about 3 inches, the flowering glumes nearly as long as 
their awn, the lowest empty glume about 2 lines long, the second at least 
3 lines, and both very pointed; and F’. bromozdes, Sm. (sczuroides, Roth.), 
with the panicle much longer and more slender, the flowering glumes 
smaller, thinner, and much shorter than their awns, the outermost empty 
glume not 1 line long, the second about 2 lines. In some localities, how- 
ever, the two forms run much one into the other. 
5, FE. uniglumis, Soland. (fig. 1226). One-glumed Fescue.—A tufted 
annual, with convolute leaves like the last, but seldom above 6 inches high, 
and the leaf-sheaths much looser. Panicle one-sided and spike-like, 2 
inches long or rather more. Spikelets much crowded, on short erect 
