•-.-VEAS3 FAMILY. 



385 



B'ith the culm of a bluish-grcoa or giri-icous hue : sJieaihs rather loose, striate ; Ivjide 

 short, obtuse. Panicle conirr.cTed. at first almost spicate and nither secund, finaily a 

 hltle expanding ; the branches by twos and threes, short, somewhat flexuose and scabrou.s. 

 Spikdcts generally 5- 6-fiowered. subsessile. Glumes nearly equal, acute, serruiite on 

 the keel. ioiferjjaZ^a- minutely pubescent, often dark purple near the apex, with a nar- 

 row white scarious margin ; upper palea scabrous on the two keels. Caryopsis oblong, 

 reddish-brown. 

 Upland fields and pastures. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This species — which, thong-h rarely if ever cultivated, yet finds 

 its way into most pastures — is not held in so high estimation, by our 

 farmers, as the one next preceding. — and certainly falls far short of it, 

 in the quantity of herbage afforded ; but that which is afibrded is, in my 

 opinion, even more nutritious. Cows which feed on it. yield the richest 

 milk, and finest butter. The creeping roots (or rhizoma?) are remarkably 

 tenacious of life, — and in consequence, are sometimes rather troublesome, 

 in cultivated grounds, among other crops ; but, on the v\-hole. it is an 

 excellent grass — especially in dairy and sheep pastures. It seems rather 

 probable that this — as well as all the preceding species — has been intro- 

 duced from Europe, although they are found in some situations where 

 they appear to be indigenous. 



14 FESTU'OA, L. Fescue-Geass. 



pile ancient Latin name.] 



Spikelets rather dry and harsh, 3-many-fiowered, panicled or racemose ; 

 fiords not cobwebby at base. Glumes unequal, mostly keeled, shorter 

 than the florets. Lower paka subcoriaceous, convex on the back, not 

 scariously margined, more or less 3 - 5-nerved, acute, pointed, often bristle- 

 awned ; the I'.pper one adhering to the grain in most of the species, but 

 free in the one mentioned here. Stamens mostly 3. 



1. F. ela'tior, L. Panicle contracted before and after flowering, 

 branches short : spikelets crowded, 5 - 10-flowered ; the florets rather re- 

 mote, oblong-lanceolate, awnless. 



Taller Festuca. Tall Fescue. ^leadow Fescue. 



Plant glabrous. J?oc< perennial. Culm 2-3 feet high. Leave? 4-6 or 8 inches long 

 (the radiral lca:es numerous and longer), lance-linear, acuminate, nerved, shining be- 

 neath, scabrous on the margin ; shea'hs nerved ; liffule very short or obsolete. FanicU 

 4-6 or ^ inches long, somewhat secund, mostly erect, the branches generally single, but 



o:>:--^ ; .^j/i'ifcdZ.jts about 7-Cowered, racemose on the branches, often purplish. 



G'i-. ' - "le lower one keeled, the upper one larger, 3-nerved, scarious on the 



mr,; _ !':a obscurely 5-nerved, somewhat acute but not acuminate normucro- 



uat-' ; white, with 2 green keels, and the margins doubled or folded in. 



- .elds and meadows, road-sides, &c. : introduced. Native of Europe. 



Obs. This is a valuable grass — commonly mingled with Poa Dra^- 

 tensis, L., in good soils ; but easily distinguished from that plant." by 

 its tapering slender-pointed shining leaves. It is extensively naturalized 

 in the middle and northern States ; and although I have never known it 

 to be cultivated, it soon finds its wav into all rich pasture lacds, There 

 IT 



