74 



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



Eurasia, North Africa. Occasionally 

 used in grass mixtures for pastures 

 in the Northern States. Festuca 

 rubra var. lanuginosa Mert. and 

 Koch. Lemmas pubescent. % — 

 Oregon to Wyoming and northward; 

 Michigan, Vermont to Connecticut; 

 Europe. A proliferous form (F. rubra 

 var. prolifera Piper, F. prolifera 

 Fernald) is found in the White Moun- 

 tains of New Hampshire, in Maine 

 and northward. Festuca rubra var. 

 commutata Gaud. (F. fallax Thuill.). 

 Che wings fescue. A form with more 

 erect culms, producing a firmer sod, 

 commonly cultivated in New Zealand 

 and occasionally in the United States. 

 % — Festuca rubra var. hetero- 

 phylla (Lam.) Mut. Shade fescue. 

 Densely tufted; basal blades filiform; 

 culm blade flat. % — Used for 

 lawns in shady places. Europe. 



29. Festuca occidentalis Hook. 

 Western fescue. (Fig. 71.) Culms 



tufted, erect, slender, 40 to 100 cm. 

 tall; blades mostly basal, slender, in- 

 volute, sulcate, soft, smooth or nearly 

 so; panicle loose, 7 to 20 cm. long, 

 often drooping above, the branches 

 solitary or in pairs; spikelets loosely 

 3- to 5-flowered, 6 to 10 mm. long, 

 mostly on slender pedicels; lemmas 

 rather thin, 5 to 6 mm. long, scaber- 

 ulous toward the apex, attenuate into 

 a slender awn about as long or longer. 

 % — Dry rocky wooded slopes and 

 banks, British Columbia to central 

 California, east to Wyoming, north- 

 ern Michigan, and western Ontario. 



Figure 72. 



-Festuca ovina. Panicle, X x /<l\ floret, X 5. 

 (Robbins 8692, Colo.) 



Figure 71. — Festuca occidentalis. Panicle, 

 spikelet, X 5. (Piper 4908, Wash.) 



X 



30. Festuca ovina L. Sheep fes- 

 cue. (Fig. 72.) Culms densely tufted, 

 usually 20 to 40 cm. tall ; blades slen- 

 der, involute, from very scabrous to 

 glabrous, the innovations numerous 

 in a basal cluster, 5 to 10 cm. long or 

 sometimes longer; panicle narrow, 

 sometimes almost spikelike, 5 to 8 

 cm. long, sometimes longer; spikelets 

 mostly 4- or 5-flowered ; lemmas about 

 4 to 5 mm. long, short-awned. % 

 (F. saximontana Rydb.; F. calligera 

 Rydb. ; F. minutiflora Rydb., a rare 

 form with small florets; F. ovina var. 

 pseudovina Hack, of Piper's revision 

 of Festuca.) — Open woods and stony 

 slopes, North Dakota to Washington 

 and Alaska, south to Arizona and 

 New Mexico; introduced eastward 

 through Michigan, Maine, Illinois, 

 and South Carolina; Eurasia. Festuca 

 ovina, F. ovina var. duriuscula, and 

 F. capillata are occasionally culti- 

 vated in lawn mixtures. 



