Festuca rubra near Cardiff. 273 
short internodes of the vegetative axes elongate, often quite 
considerably, and take on the appearance of stolons. The same 
may also occur with the intravaginal branches. The result is, in 
the case of a shortly creeping form like tenuifolia , a false appear¬ 
ance of creeping at length ; hence the necessity of selecting 
typical specimens for determination (see p. 265). 
The sheath of the radical leaf is entire at first but later splits 
from above and below, ultimately separating into irregular fibrous 
strands which persist for some time after withering. The sheath 
surface serves to distinguish the three subvarieties; that of 
grandiflora is pubescent, especially in the upper exposed portion of 
the older sheaths; that of tenuifolia is hispidulous, having minute, 
retrorse, sharply-pointed hairs; that of glaucescens is perfectly 
glabrous. The sheaths of all develop a reddish-purple colour 
before withering. 
The ligule is a slight ridge or cushion across the base of the 
lamina, and ends laterally on each side in a slight lobe at the edge 
of the sheath. The edges of the lamina also thicken somewhat 
as they pass into the sheath forming a second (upper) lobe which 
is often rather more pronounced in tenuifolia than in the 
other two forms. But the differences between the three sub- 
varieties in this respect are too minute to be of real value for 
determination. 
The lamina of subvar. grandiflora is rather more rigid than are 
those of the other two forms. It stands erect at first and in a 
straight line with the sheath. Fully developed it attains a length 
of 25—33 cm., and the broadest diameter of the elliptical transverse 
section is 1-0 mm. It is complicate with acute apex, polished and 
dark-green below, the “ mat ” upper surface raised into five 
longitudinally-running ridges. That of subvar. tenuifolia attains 
a total length of 20—25 cm., and is slender (-8 mm. diam.) and 
flexible. The lower surface is dark glaucous green, having the 
appearance of a “ bloom ” ; the upper surface is just as in grandi¬ 
flora. The leaves form densely matted masses when their growth 
is not interfered with. Subvar. glaucescens has laminae also with a 
“ bloom,” like those of tenuifolia except that their colour is a 
lighter more yellowish green. These colour differences are a ready 
means of distinguishing the three forms. 
3. The Haulm. 
The stronger vegetative shootscontinue their development in the 
second season to produce a haulm terminated by the inflorescence. 
