76 



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



Festuca amethystixa L. Slender tufted 

 perennial; blades filiform, 15 to 25 cm. long; 

 panicle 5 to 10 cm. long, rather narrow; 

 spikelets about as in F, ovina, often purplish. 

 % — Sometimes cultivated for ornament. 

 Europe. 



Festuca geniculata (L.) Cav. Annual; 

 culms slender, geniculate below, 20 to 50 cm. 

 tall; panicle 3 to 6 cm. long, rather compact; 

 spikelets awned. O — Sometimes culti- 

 vated for ornament. Portugal. 



Festuca valesiaca Schleich. ex Gaud. 

 Slender densely tufted perennial, 15 to 30 

 cm. tall; blades very slender, sulcate, sca- 

 brous, those of the innovations numerous, 10 

 to 18 cm. long; panicle 4 to 8 cm. long, nar- 

 row, the short branches ascending; spikelets 

 similar to those of F. ovina, to which this 

 species is closely related. % — Some- 

 times cultivated in grass gardens. Europe. 



5. SCLEROPOA Griseb. 



Spikelets several-flowered, linear, 

 somewhat compressed, the thick ra- 

 chilla disarticulating above the 

 glumes and between the florets, re- 

 maining as a minute stipe to the floret 

 above; glumes unequal, short, acut- 



ish, strongly nerved, the first 1- 

 nerved, the second 3-nerved; lemmas 

 nearly terete, obscurely 5-nerved, ob- 

 tuse, slightly scarious at the tip. An- 

 nuals with slightly branched 1-sided 

 panicles. Type species, Scleropoa rig- 

 ida. Name from Greek skier os, hard, 

 and poa, grass, alluding to the stiff 

 panicle. 



1. Scleropoa rigida (L.) Griseb. 

 (Fig. 76.) Culms erect or spreading, 10 

 to 20 cm. tall ; blades flat, 1 to 2 mm. 

 wide; panicles narrow, stiff, con- 

 densed, 5 to 10 cm. long, the branches 

 short, floriferous to base, these and 

 the thick pedicels somewhat divari- 

 cately spreading in anthesis ; spikelets 

 4- to 10-flowered, 5 to 8 mm. long; 

 glumes about 2 mm. long; lemmas 

 about 2.5 mm. long. O — Waste 

 places and fields, sparingly introduced 

 from Europe, Massachusetts; Florida 

 to Mississippi; Texas; South Dakota; 

 Washington to California. 



Figure 76. — Scleropoa rigida. Plant, X 1; two views of floret, X 10. (Cocks, Miss.) 



