20 OONTBIBl riONS FROM ill 1 NATIONAL BK&BAB1UM. 



apper 3-nerved, 3.6 nun. long; lemma linear-lanceolate, faintly 5-nerved, 9 I 

 nun. Long, Bpanel) Bhort-pubeeoent, attenuate into a slender awn to 11 nun. 

 Long; palea lanceolate, obtuse or acntiah, nearly a< long a> the lemma, citiate at 

 tli«- apex : Btamen 1 . Plati VII. 



Thisspeciefl ranges from Norfolk County, Virginia Kearnej . south to Florida, 

 thence westward to Texas and northward into Arkansas and Indian Territory 

 (Palmer 



Bxn \N\ii"N oi Pi \ 1 1 .. — l»ra\\ ii [rum ELeverchon's Texas specimen collected in 1882. Plant one- 

 half natural sin; details enlarged Bve timet 



Subgenus II. Eufestuga Qriseb. 



ftuca Griseb. Spic. Fl. Rumel. 2: 402. 1844. 

 Perennials, often densely tufted; stamens and stigmas projecting during anthesis; 

 stigmas plumose, the branches toothed, bilateral. 



L3. Festuca rubra L. 



oa rubra L. Bp. PI. 1: 74. 17~>.;. "Habitat in Buropae pratis siccis." 

 Festuca vaUicola Rydb. Mem. N. V. Bot. Gard; 1:57. 1900. Type in the II. r- 

 barium of the New York Botanical Garden; a duplicate in the National Herbarium, 

 collected at Silver Bow, Montana, by Rydberg (no. 2108 



DESCRIPTION. 



Stems from elongated or Bometimes Bhoii creeping rootstocks, in the latter case 

 sonit-u hat tufted; culms erect, verysmooth, 40 to 90 cm. high, 3 or 4-jointed; Bheaths 

 very smooth, shorter than the Lnternodes; ligule Bcarious, short and truncate; blades 

 very Bmooth, soft, the basal ><n<-> loosely involute, those of the culm typically Hat. 

 but in American forms usually folded or involute; panicle 5 t<. 20 cm. long, usually 

 contracted ami narrow; rays mostly erect, narrow, Bcabrouson the angles, tin- lower 

 ones usually with a short basal branch; spikelets usually 4 to 6-flowered, rarely 10- 

 flowered, mostly 7 to 8 mm. Long, pale green or more or less glaucous, often purple- 

 tinged; joints of the rachilla smooth; glumes smooth, the lower 1-nerved, shorter 

 than the .'i-nerved upper one; lemma linear-lanceolate, convex, obscurely 5-nerved, 

 5 to 7 mm. long, smooth or scabrous toward the apex, bearing a Bcabroufi awn rarely 

 as long, usually about half as long. 



Festuca r<if>ru is much le>s rich in Bubspecies than is F. ovina, and these Bubspecies 

 are for the most part but ill defined. It necessarily results, therefore, that under 

 the species proper must be grouped plants of somewhat diverse, aspect. Indeed, it 

 may be a more philosophical treatment to reduce most of the Bubspecies to tie spe- 

 cies, instead of keeping them up as is done by most European botanists. The prob- 

 lem is complicated by the fact that much of the North American rubra differs from 

 tie- typical plant of Europe, more especially in the fact that the culm leaves tend to 

 l>e involute rather than Hat. in this respect approaching /'. rubra trichophylla 1 Micros 

 ( laud. This Blight difference ifi surely not sufficient, however, to justify the erection 

 of a new specie- for the Rocky .Mountain form as proposed by Doctor Rydberg, even 

 were the character constant, which is not the case. 



Festuca rubra ranges in North America along the Atlantic seaboard from Greenland 

 to Virginia; on the Pacific side it is abundant along the seashore from Alaska to 

 California, and inland to the Rocky Mountains south as far as ( loloittdo. 



The specimens referred to as /■'. ouina trachyphyUa Hack., F. ovvna duriuscula (L.) 



Hack., /•'. ovina borderii Hack., /■'. amethystina L., and /•'. rubra trichophylla Grand, by 



Doctor Real in Grasses of North America, clearly are Festuca rubra. <>f the speci- 



referred to F*. rubra faUax Hack., the Anderson specimen is F.ovina mgraki 



Hack.; the Howell specimen, F, rubra. 



