MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



67 



Figure 57. — Festuca subulata. Pan- 

 icle, X Y%\ floret, X 5. (Hitch- 

 cock 23511, Oreg.) 



toward the apex, the intermediate 

 nerves obscure, the tip attenuate into 

 an awn 5 to 20 mm. long. % — 

 Shady banks and moist thickets, up 

 to 2,000 m., southeastern Alaska to 

 Wyoming, Utah, and northern Cali- 

 fornia. 



16. Festuca elmeri Scribn. and 

 Merr. (Fig. 58.) Culms loosely tufted, 

 slender, 40 to 100 cm. tall, or even 

 taller; blades flat, scabrous or pubes- 



Figtjre 58. — Festuca elmeri. Panicle, X }4; spikelet, 

 X 5. (Type.) 



cent on upper surface, 2 to 4 mm. 

 wide, those of the innovations nar- 

 rower, more or less involute; panicle 

 loose, open, 10 to 20 cm. long, the 

 branches slender, somewhat drooping, 

 naked below, the lower as much as 10 

 cm. long; spikelets 3- or 4-flowered; 

 glumes lanceolate-acuminate, the first 

 2 to 2.5 mm., the second 3 to 4 mm. 

 long; lemmas membranaceous, his- 

 pidulous, about 6 mm. long, the 

 nerves rather prominent, the apex 

 minutely 2-toothed; awn 2 to 8 mm. 

 long. Q[ — Wooded hillsides, up to 

 500 m., mostly in the Coast Ranges, 

 Oregon to central California. Festuca 

 elmeri var. conferta (Hack.) 

 Hitchc. More luxuriant; spikelets 

 often 5- or 6-flowered and somewhat 

 congested on the panicle branches. 

 % (F. jonesii var. conferta Hack.) — 

 Coast Ranges of California. 



17. Festuca elatior L. Meadow 

 fescue. (Fig. 59.) Culms 50 to 120 

 cm. tall; blades flat, 4 to 8 mm. wide, 

 scabrous above; panicle erect, or nod- 

 ding at summit, 10 to 20 cm. long, 

 contracted after flowering, much- 

 branched or nearly simple, the 

 branches spikelet-bearing nearly to 

 base; spikelets usually 6- to 8-flow- 

 ered, 8 to 12 mm. long; glumes 3 and 

 4 mm. long, lanceolate; lemmas ob- 

 long-lanceolate, coriaceous, 5 to 7 

 mm. long, the scarious apex acutish, 

 rarely short-awned. % (Festuca 

 pratensis Huds.) — Meadows, road- 

 sides, and waste places; introduced 

 throughout the cooler parts of North 

 America; native of Eurasia. Culti- 

 vated for meadow and pasture. Some- 

 times called English bluegrass. 



Festuca gigantea (L.) Vill. Blades 

 broad, flat, thin; panicles open; lem- 

 mas long-awned, the awn flexuous and 

 2 or 3 times as long as the lemma. 

 % — Dobbs Ferry, N. Y. ; adventive 

 from Europe. 



Festuca arundinacea Schreb. Reed 

 fescue, Alta fescue. Culms some- 

 what taller and more robust than in 

 F. elatior, and without rhizomes; 

 blades longer; panicles 15 to 32 cm. 

 long with more numerous branches 



