41 



No. 117. Foiiniiera mexicana Scribn. Mexican Lawn-grass. 



A low, extensively creeping grass that grows in tlie mountain valleys of western 



Mexico. Stock cat it with avidity. An excellent lawn and pasture grass for 



suhtropical regions. 



No. 118. Gynerium argenteum Noes. Pampas-grass. 



A stout perennial, 8 to 12 feet high, with mostly radical, narrow leaves .3 to 6 feet 

 long, and showy, silvexy white or rose-red panicles 1.5 to 30 inches long. A much- 

 prized ornamental for lawn decoration. The handsome panicles are used for 

 dry bouquets. Growing Pampas plumes is an important industry in some parts 

 of California. These plumes or 

 panicles are cut when exposed only 

 a few inches from the leaf sheath, 

 then dried, and don(' up into bun- 

 dles for shiimient. Pampas-grass 

 is a nativ<' of southern P.razil and 

 Argentina, and there the long 

 leaves are used for paper making, 

 and a decoction of the rhizome is 

 used as a diuretic. G, roseitm is a 

 horticultural variety, with pale, 

 rose-colored plumes. G.variegatum 

 is a form with variegated leaves. 



No. 119. Hilaria cenchroides HBK. 



Curly Mesquit. (Fig. 48.) 



A delicate perennial with slender, 

 creeping stems, the upright, leafy 

 shoots a few inches to nearly a foot 

 high. This is one of the most val- 

 uable of tlie grasses of the dry 

 plains and mesas of the Southwest. 

 It foruis a dense, green sward, and 

 in habit of growth closely resem- 

 bles the true Buftalo-grass. It has 

 the Iiabit of creeping over the 

 ground and rooting at the joints 

 of the stems, from which sjiring 

 leafy branches that in turn reacli 

 out for other places in which to 

 take root. It makes a thick mat 

 of leafy turf during the sunmicr, 

 matures on its roots, and in the fall 

 and winter, when not rotted by 

 late rains, aftords excellent pastur- 

 age for all classes of stock. No 



grass stands the long drj^ spells to which the Southwest is periodically subject 

 better than the Curly Mesquit. At such times it dries up and appears dead, 

 but in a few hours after a warju rain it becomes green to the end of the smallest 

 brandies. It is best proi)agaied by transplanting the runners. Seed is produced 

 in abundance, but is both difficult to harvest and of rather uncertain vitality. 



No. 120. Hilaria mutica Benth. Black Bunch-grass. 



This is a rather coarse perennial, with creeping rootstocks, and stems 12 to 18 inches 

 high. It is common on the dry mesas of New Mexico and Arizona, extending 

 eastward into Texas and Indian Teriitory. Where abundant it is regarded as 

 one of the most valuable native grasses and furnishes excellent pasturage at all 



Fk;. 48.— Curly Mesquit (Hilaria cenchroides) ; a, 

 group of sjjikelets; 6,spikelet; c, d, florets. 



