[+][+] Perennial, tufted, 6–24´ high; stamens 3.
2. F. ovìna, L. (Sheep's Fescue.) Glaucous, ½–2° high; leaves mostly radical, very narrow and convolute; panicle somewhat one-sided, short, usually more or less compound, open in flowering; spikelets 3–8-flowered; awn not more than half the length of the flower, often much shorter or almost wanting.—Indigenous in northern New Eng., about Lake Superior, and northward; naturalized farther south as a pasture grass. June.—Varies greatly.—Var. vivípara, L. (which with us has running rootstocks), a state with the spikelets partially converted into leafy shoots, is found on the alpine summits of the White Mts., and high northward.—Var. duriúscula, Koch, is a tall form, with spikelets rather larger, usually in a more compound panicle; culm-leaves often flat or less convolute, and the lower with their sheaths either smooth or hairy. New Eng. to Va., and westward, as a naturalized plant, and indigenous northward. A native form of this variety with a lax panicle, 2–4-flowered spikelets, and slender awns nearly as long as the glume (var. rubra, of last ed.), is found on Keweenaw Peninsula (Robbins) and Isle Royale, L. Superior (Gilman). (Eu.)
[*][*] Flowers oblong or lanceolate, awnless or nearly so (1½–4´´ long); grain often free! (Root perennial; culms mostly tall; leaves flat.)
3. F. nùtans, Willd. Culm 2–4° high, naked above; leaves broadly linear, taper-pointed, dark green, often rather hairy; panicle of several long and slender spreading branches, mostly in pairs, drooping when old, rough, naked below, bearing near their extremity a few ovate 3–5-flowered spikelets (3´´ long) on pretty long pedicels; flowers ovate-oblong, rather obtuse, close together, coriaceous, smooth, very obscurely 5-nerved.—Rocky woods and copses. July.—A common form with the panicle more or less contracted and somewhat erect has been distinguished as F. Shortii.
F. elàtior, L. (Taller or Meadow Fescue.) ([Pl. 10], fig. 1–3.) Panicle narrow, contracted before and after flowering, erect, with short branches; spikelets crowded, 5–10-flowered; flowers rather remote, oblong-lanceolate; flowering glume 5-nerved, scarious-margined, blunt, acute, or rarely with a distinct but very short awn.—The type is large, 3–4° high; spikelets about 6´´ long, in an ample and compound panicle. Rich grass-land.—Var. praténsis, Gray (F. pratensis, Huds.), is lower (1–3° high), with a simpler or close panicle of smaller or narrower spikelets, and abounds in grass-lands. June–Aug. (Nat. from Eu.)
F. gigantèa, Vill. Erect, glabrous, 3–4° high; leaves bright green, 3–6´´ broad; panicle very loose, nodding; spikelets 3–6-flowered; flowering glumes 3´´ long, with a slender awn of twice the length.—Of rare occurrence near the coast. (Nat. from Eu.)
70. BRÒMUS, L. Brome-Grass. ([Pl. 10.])
Spikelets 5–many-flowered, panicled. Glumes unequal, membranaceous; the lower 1–5-, the upper 3–9-nerved. Flowering glume either convex on the back or compressed-keeled, 5–9-nerved, awned or bristle-pointed from below the mostly 2-cleft tip; palet at length adhering to the groove of the oblong or linear grain. Stamens 3. Styles attached below the apex of the ovary.—Coarse grasses, with large spikelets, at length drooping, on pedicels thickened at the apex. (An ancient name for the Oat, from βρόμος, food.)
§ 1. Flowering glume oblong, turgid, and convex on the back; the flowers imbricated over one another before expansion; lower empty glume distinctly 3–5-nerved, the upper 5–9-nerved.
[*] Perennial; indigenous. Lower glume strongly 3-nerved, the upper 5-nerved.