70 



MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



more blunt. % (F. shortii Kunth) 

 — Prairies, low open ground, and 

 thickets, Pennsylvania and Delaware 

 to South Carolina, Wisconsin, and 

 eastern Texas. 



Figure 63. — Festuca paradoxa. Panicle, X 3^2 1 floret, 

 X 5. (Palmer 34672, Mo.) 



Figure 64.- 



-Festuca thurberi. Panicle, X V2\ spikelet, 

 X 5. (Pammel, Colo.) 



22. Festuca thurberi Vasey. Thur- 



ber fescue. (Fig. 64.) Culms densely 

 tufted, rather stout, erect, 60 to 90 

 cm. tall; ligule 2 to 4 mm. long; 

 blades involute, scabrous, firm, erect; 

 panicle 10 to 15 cm. long, the branches 

 usually solitary, somewhat remote, 

 ascending or spreading, naked below; 

 spikelets 3- to 6-flowered; glumes 

 rather broad, about 4 and 5 mm. 

 long; lemmas rather firm, faintly 

 nerved, glabrous or nearly so, acute 

 or cuspidate, 7 to 8 mm. long. % 



—Dry slopes and rocky hills, 2,500 

 to 3,500 m., Wyoming to New Mexico 

 and Utah. 



23. Festuca ligulata Swallen. (Fig. 

 65.) Culms slender, loosely tufted, 

 erect from a decumbent often rhizo- 

 matous base, scabrous below the 

 panicle; sheaths glabrous; blades 6 

 to 20 cm. long, those of the innova- 

 tions as much as 30 cm. long, flat 

 and 1 to 2 mm. wide or mostly in- 

 volute, scabrous, rather firm; ligule 

 3 to 3.5 mm. long; panicle 6 to 10 

 cm. long, the 1 or 2 scabrous branches 

 stiffly ascending or spreading, few- 

 flowered, naked below; spikelets 6 

 mm. long, 2- to 3-flowered, the pedi- 

 cels (mostly shorter than the spike- 

 lets) appressed; glumes acute or 

 acutish, scabrous, the first 3 mm. 

 long, 1-nerved, the second 4 mm. 

 long, 3-nerved; lemmas 4 to 5 mm. 

 long, acutish, scabrous, obscurely 

 nerved, awnless, the paleas slightly 

 longer. % — Moist shady slopes, 

 Guadalupe and Chisos Mountains, 

 Tex. 



Figure 65. 



-Festuca ligulata. Plant, X X A\ floret, 

 X 5. (Type.) 



24. Festuca scabrella Torr. Rough 



fescue. (Fig. 66.) Culms densely 

 tufted (rarely producing a slender 

 rhizome), erect, 30 to 90 cm. tall; 

 ligule very short; blades firm, erect, 

 scabrous, involute, or those of the 

 culm sometimes flat but narrow; 

 panicle narrow, 5 to 15 cm. long, the 

 branches solitary or in pairs, the 

 lowermost sometimes in threes, ap- 

 pressed or ascending, naked below; 



