Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

207Festuca pratensis. Meadow fescue.Five tetrads around the south side of the Forest (Hall 1980).Goat crossroads area (40.32), 1993, AK; meadow at Braberry Hatch (427.297), 1994,TR & DK; Hunters Farm area (44.26), 1994, TR; near Radio Station, presumably from verge(47.29), 1994, SBRS.3 Scattered in grassy places, usually in older pastures on damp soils, in Sussex andlowland Britain. Widespread in Europe and south-west Asia.4 5Festuca arundinacea. Tall fescue.Four tetrads on the Forest (Hall 1980).Characteristic of the sides of roads where it forms small patches, and most noticeablebefore the verges are cut. The increase in winter road salting may explain the increase inthe amount of this grass since Hall (1980) as it seems quite tolerant of salt and is becomingfairly characteristic of roadsides in Britain. It also lines the edges of some French4 5motorways.Scattered in damp grassy places in Sussex, and sometimes planted for forage.Widespread in lowland Britain, and in Europe, North Africa and Asia.Festuca gigantea. Giant fescue.Frequent on the Forest (Hall 1980).Damp, shaded or open verges, stream sides and waste ground, mostly around theedges of the Forest. Usually in damp, nutrient-rich places, on the better soils.Common in the Weald. Increasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996) and widespreadin lowland Britain. It occurs in most of Europe and temperate Asia.Festuca rubra. Red fescue.Common on the Forest (Hall 1980).Very widespread on the Forest on verges, in car parks, churchyards, sown grass onrides, and in meadows and pastures, but not on acidic heath land . There was one record fora tufted form possibly subsp. commutata on sandy ground at Pippingford Park (449.314),1995, TR, PH et al.Common in Sussex and Britain and increasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996).Widespread in Europe.Festuca ovina agg. Sheep's-fescue.The F. av/na aggregate on the Forest appears to be composed of the two taxa below, and F. avina S.S., which wasrecorded frequently on the Forest in Hall (1980), has not been found despite careful searching by TR. Probably allprevious F. ovina 5./. records can be referred to F. filifarmis.Festuca filiformis (F. tenuifolia). Fine-leaved sheep's-fescue.Ashdown Forest near the Stone Quarry (Coleman 1836). Tetrads 43B and 43G (Hall 1980), though clearly underrecordedas stated above.F. filiformis is widespread but only locally frequent on rides and tracks through acidic grassland and heathland. Ithas not been seen in the grazing enclosure at Millbrook, and the impression of the micro-distribution elsewhere is that it isincreasing after cessation of the grazing, which would fit yvith Coleman's observation of only one site. It is distinguishedby the tufted, fine leaves which are often bluish-grey, and it has very short awns on the small florets. It flowers quiteearly and the fruits dehisce and drop in mid summer.Scattered in lowland Britain on rocky, mineral and peaty soils, and in west and central Europe.Festuca lemanii (F. longifolia in part). Confused fescue.A few clumps on eastern bank of track just north of Half Moon Copse (427.318), 1993, TR & EL. It differs from F.filiformis in having generally longer awns and lemmas 4 mm or more long (to 3.5 mm in F. flfiformis).