230 



Switch ffra,9S {Panivum rirgatum L.) is jilso a coiniiion and well- 

 known j;rass in the canonw. Tlie value of this ifrass for hay is also 

 incrcasetl by early niowing. It is caUed a very good forage plant by 

 the ranchmen. 



Yellow foxtail [Setaria glauca Beauv.). — The ranciliinen in the South 

 Canadian eafions call this a very good grass for hay. I have seen them 

 mowing it in considerable qnantity. It is rather common there. It 

 may jxjssibly seem the more valuable siin[>ly because there is a lack c>f 

 other good species. 



PLANTS ("IIAKACTEUTSTIO OF (iVl'SUM HILLS. 



It seetiis to be pretty well understood that tlie nieaningof tlie Indiati 

 word Oklahoma is " home of the red earth" (()kla = ied, homa=home); 

 wiiich, if true, makes it a very api)ropriate name, since a large portion 

 of the Indian TtMiitory north ot the South Canadian River is jtlainly 

 distinguislied by outcropping ''red beds," which also extend north- 

 ward into Jiarber, Pratt, Oonmnche, and Kingman counties, Kans. 



>iow, gypsum an<I salt are also associated with the ''red beds," out- 

 erop]iing at tlie surface in the foi'm of gypsum hills and salt marshes, 

 esi)ecially along the valley of the Cinmiarron and in central Kansas. 

 The gypsum deposits, being a litth^ harder than the surrounding soil, 

 have been left standing by the eroding acti(m of streams until they 

 have become very prominent hills, in sonu> pla(;es forming what are 

 called glass mountains, from the glistening a.p])earance of the mica-like 

 gypsum covering their sides. 



All these gyi)suui hills invariably have their characteristic plants. 

 The special (diuracters (d" the ])lants are very nnich the same as those ot 

 the plants of sandy regicms. This is exi)lained by the fact that they 

 have to contend with the same general adversities of environment — a 

 dry, gravelly soil, from which the water is rapidly drained away through 

 the sifles of the hills. 



At the summits of these hills, near Kingfisher, Okla., certain s])ecies 

 ar(^ found whi(di do not occur in tlie surrounding lower conntry within 

 a radius of 100 ndles, so far as my ex])erience goes. Of these, RitUleUia 

 taiU'tina Nntt. is one of the most common, found cm varnms hills along 

 the ('imarron liiver. The dwarf form of Oenothera serrulata Nutt., al- 

 ready nu'ntioned, is also quite as common, as well as Oe. Hartwegi 

 lieuth., Ganra villosa Torr., Yucca nngustifoHa, Ptirsh, Oilia longijlora 

 Don., Mentsclia nuda Torr. aiul Gray, and M. olif/ospenna Nutt., are 

 frequent on gypsum liills from Caldwell to ]iarber County, Kaus. Fort- 

 ulaca pilosa L, occurs on similar hills in the Clierokee Outlet, Ind. T. 



The following S])ecies I have not seen in other localities than gypsum 

 hills: Lestiiierella f/raeilis Wi\tn., Kama (l<'t>iis.s}tm <5ray, and Astragalus 

 mierololms Gray, in(Jherokee Outlet, and (Ivyhaphus nyctaginens Sweet, 

 yur. pilosus Gray, in IJarber County, Kans. 1 su])pose, however, they 

 may be found, in other i)Iaces. They are not very common, and this 



