68 



creeping stems, rootiui-' at tljc loiiils. and sending up coarse, leafy tufts. The 

 whole plant is clothed with soft haus. The male and female llowers are borne 

 ou separate plants, the latter in globular heails, which fall off at maturity and 

 are driven over the sands by the winds, drojiping their s.-eds as they roll along, 

 or are carried about by the waves and deposited on newly forujed sand bars, 

 there to continue the embanking process. It has no value for forage, but in 

 New South "Wales is regarded a most useful grass for fixing drift sauds wlieu 

 encroaching upon valuable lands. It is rea.lily propagated by cuttings or joints 



of the stems, is of 

 comparatively quick 

 growth, and is very 

 persistent when once 

 established. It would 

 doubtless be of some 

 value ou our own South 

 em and Califoruian 

 coasts as a sand binder. 



No. 222. Sporobolus ai- 

 roides Torr. Alkali Sac- 

 caton. ( Fig. 83.) 

 A stout rather coarse and 

 rigid grass, growing on 

 tussocks iu sandy and 

 more or less alkaline or 

 saline soils along rivers 

 and streams, ranging 

 from Montana south- 

 ward to Texas and 

 westward to Calitbr- 

 nia. It has a widely 

 s p r e a d i n g j) a n i c 1 e, 

 more open than sacca- 

 ton, and the grass 

 rarely exceeds 2 feet in 

 height. In some places 

 in Nevada, Utah, and 

 New Mexico it occurs 

 abundantly, and yields 

 a coarse fodder, which 

 is eaten by stock when 

 ,..,,. more tend<r grasses 



W/'I are not available. 



No. 223. Sporobolus as- 

 perifolius (Nees and 

 Moy.) Thurb. Fine-top 

 Salt-grass. 

 A low, somewhat creeping 

 grass, 6 to l.'j inches high, with numerous short, spreading, acute, leaves, and an 

 expanded capillary panicle 3 to 5 inches long. It grosvs on alkaline plains from 

 Tcxah northwest to I'.ritish Columbia, in similar situations ,is Distichlia apicaUu 

 and like that species often forms a den.se, continuous turf. It grows well on 

 strongly alkaline soil, an<i may prove valuable for propagation on such lands. 



No. 224. Sporobolus cryptandrus (Torr.; A. (iray. Dropseed. 

 Aslrou-lv rooted pereMuial, 2 to 3 feet high, with usually narrow, rather densely 

 lloweied panicles, which are generally partially iudose.l within the upper leaf- 



Fio. 82.— Spiny Kolling-grassf.S'pmi/ea; hirsuUu) : a. male iuflorea- 

 ceuce; b, female iutioresceiice; a', male spikek-t; b', female 

 8pikelet. 



