Festuca. 



GRAMINEiE. 



471 



3. Festuca nutans, Willd. (Plate CLVIII.) Nodding Fescue-grass. 



Panicle diffuse, at length nodding ; the branches long and slender, mostly in pairs, naked 

 below ; spikelets ovate, 3 - 5-flowered ; the flowers smooth, awnless, very obscurely nerved. 

 — Willd. enum. 1. p. 116 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 84 ; Muhl. gram. p. 165 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 172; 

 Torr. fl. 1. p. 122 ; Beck, hot. p. 406 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 72 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 407. 



Perennial. Culms, 2 - 3 feet high, erect, simple, terete. Leaves 2-3 lines wide, dark 

 green, nearly smooth, or sometimes a little hairy : ligule short. Panicle slender ; the branches 

 nearly simple and rough. Spikelets few, towards the summit of the branches, mostly 

 3-flowered. Glumes lanceolate, acuminate, remotely serrulate on the keel ; the upper one 

 3-nerved. Palese coriaceous, smooth, nearly equal : lower one ovate-lanceolate, acute or 

 rather obtuse, very obscurely 5-nerved, not scarious on the margin ; the upper lanceolate, 

 strongly margined. Stamens 3 : anthers yellow. 



Woods, and rocky shady banks : frequent. Fl. June. This species has much the appear- 

 ance of a Poa, and has been referred to that genus by Link, but it rather belongs to Festuca. 



4. Festuca elatior, Linn. Tall Fescue-grass. 



Panicle much branched, loose and rather spreading; spikelets ovate-lanceolate, 4-6- 

 flowered ; the flowers cylindrical, mucronate or acuminate ; rhizoma creeping. — Linn. sp. 1. 

 p. 75; Engl. hot. t. 1593; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 83; Muhl. gram. p. 164; Bigel. fl. Bost. 

 p. 36 ; Torr.fl. 1. p. 121 ; Beck, hot. p. 406 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 71 ; Kunth, enum. 1. 

 p. 404. 



Perennial. Culm 3-5 feet high. Leaves broadly linear, about a foot long : sheaths smooth, 

 loose : ligule very short. Panicle 6-8 inches long, usually nodding ; the branches mostly in 

 pairs, rough. Spikelets somewhat racemose on the branches. Glumes unequal : lower one 

 linear- lanceolate ; upper obscurely 3-nerved. Lower palea lanceolate, acute or mucronate : 

 upper palea linear. Caryopsis oblong-oval. 



Low meadows and pastures : frequent. Fl. June. This grass is probably a foreigner, but 

 is now extensively naturalized in the United States. It is worth but little, either for hay or 

 pasture. 



5. Festuca pratensis, Huds. Meadow Fescue-grass. 



Panicle spreading, moderately branched, erect; spikelets linear, 5 - 10-flowered ; flowers 

 cylindrical, awnless ; lower palea rather acute, not mucronate ; leaves linear ; root fibrous. — 

 Huds. fl. Angl. p. 37 ; Engl. hot. t. 1592 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 121 ; Beck, hot. p. 406 ; Darlingt. 

 fl. Cest. p.7\ ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 404. 



Perennial. Culm 2-3 feet high. Leaves about 6 inches long, broadly linear, and with 

 the sheaths smooth : ligule very short or almost wanting. Panicle 4-6 inches long, a little 



