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VIVIPAROUS FESCUE-GRASS. This affords a striking instance of the protection that Nature has contrived for keeping up the regular produce of the different species of plants; as when the Festuca ovina is found in very high mountainous situations, places not congenial to the ripening seeds of so light a nature, the panicle is found to become viviparous, i.e. producing perfect plants, which being beaten down with heavy rains in the autumn, readily strike root in the ground.
See Poa aquatica. FESTUCA duriuscula. HARD FESCUE-GRASS. A very excellent grass both for green fodder and hay, and would be well worth cultivating; but the seeds have not hitherto been saved in any quantity. Curtis observes that this grass grows thin on the ground after a time. I have sometimes observed this to be the case in the Botanic Garden, but it is otherwise in its native state of growth.
SPIKED FESCUE-GRASS. I have observed this near the Thames side to be the principal grass in some of the most abundant meadows; and as the seeds are very plentiful, I am of opinion it might be very easily propagated: it is, however, not in cultivation at present. FESTUCA loliacea. DARNEL FESCUE-GRASS. This in appearance is very like the Lolium perenne, but is a more lasting plant in the ground.
The kinds of selected grass-seeds that are at this time to be purchased are few, and consist of Lolium perenne, Festuca pratensis, Alopecurus pratensis; Dactylis glomeratus, Cynosurus cristatus; with the various kinds of Clovers: and it is not easy to lay down any rule as to the mixture or proportion of each different kind that would best suit particular lands.
Thus, Arethusa, Cypripedium, Pogonia, Calopogon, Spiranthes, Festuca, Osmunda, Onoclea, Lycopodium, Polytrichum, Bryum, Marchantia, Usnea, Parmelia, Cladonia, Agaricus, Chondrus, and perhaps a few other genera, furnish plants so familiar and so striking that a child will be sure to inquire concerning them, and a general description could easily be framed in a few words which could not mislead him concerning them.
The seeds of this grass are small, and about one bushel would sow an acre of ground. FESTUCA rubra. RED or CREEPING FESCUE-GRASS. A fine grass, very like duriuscula; but it is not common in this part of the country; it grows plentifully on the mountains in Wales. It does not produce fertile seeds with us in the garden. FESTUCA pratensis.
In fact, I am of opinion that these are often confounded together, and the merits of the former applied to this, although they are different in many respects. Those who wish to obtain more of its history may consult Stillingfleet's Observations on Grasses, p. 384. FESTUCA vivipara.
I did not like this creek much more than the Alberga, and decided to try the country still farther north-west. This we did, passing through somewhat thick scrubs for eighteen miles, when we came full upon the creek again, and here for the first time since we started we noticed some bunches of spinifex, the Festuca irritans, and some native poplar trees.
Approaching the pillar from the south, the traveller must pass over a series of red sandhills, covered with some scrubs, and clothed near the ground with that abominable vegetable production, the so-called spinifex or porcupine grass botanically, the Triodia, or Festuca irritans.
The Festuca Dometorum, fescue grass of the bushes, produces bulbs from the sheaths of its straw. The Allium Magicum, or magical onion, produces onions on its head, instead of seeds. The Polygonum Viviparum, viviparous bistort, rises about a foot high, with a beautiful spike of flowers, which are succeeded by buds or bulbs, which fall off and take root.
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