21 



No. 44. Beckmannia eriicaeformis (L.) Host. Slough-grass. (Fig. 16.) 

 A stout, erect, subaquatic perennial, 1 to 4 feet high, with narrow, densely flowered 

 panicles. The leaves are broad and flat, and the stems are coarse but tender, 

 becoming somewhat woody when old. It grows along the banks of streams and 

 rivers and frequently follows the course of the irrigating 

 ditches. When young, however, this grass is palatable 

 and readily eaten by stock. In some portions of the North- 

 west, to which region this grass is confined in this country, 

 it often occurs in such quantities as to constitute an import- 

 ant part of the forage of low pasture lands. It may be recog- 

 nized by the peculiar, spike-like branches of the panicle, 

 which have some resemblance to the rattles of a rattle- 

 snake, and for this reason it is sometimes called " Rattle- 

 snake-grass." It-is deserving of trial under cultivation for 

 low meadow lands in the more Northern States, and is 

 especially adapted to irrigated alkaline lands. 



No. 45. Bouteloua curtipeudula (Ms.) Torr. Side Oats. 



(Fig. 17.) 



This is among the tallest of our species of Bouteloua, the rather 



stout, tufted stems being from 1 to 3 feet high. It has 



tough, perennial, fibrous roots, flat, long-pointed leaves, 



and many short spikes arranged along tlie upper portion 



of the stem. Its range extends 

 from New Jersey westward to 

 the Rocky Mountains and south- 

 ward through Texas into Mexico. 

 Where abundant, it is said to 

 make fair hay, and the numerous 

 root leaves afi'ord good pastur- 

 age. The hay is readily eaten 

 by stock, but on the range cattle 

 show a decided preference for 

 Blue Grama. Several species of 

 Grama have been successfully 



grown in small cultures at some of the experiment 

 stations, but none of them, although apparently most 

 valuable as pasture grasses for the semiarid regions, 

 have been introduced into general cultivation. 



No. 46. Bouteloua eriopoda Torr. Black Grama. 



This is one of the species of Grama so valuable for grazing 

 in New Mexico and Texas. The slender stems are 1 to 

 2 feet high, and from its thrifty habit of growth it 

 forms dense and excellent pasturage wherever it 

 grows abundantly. It is a common grass along the 

 Rio Grande and in the region between the Pecos and 

 the Gila; also in the Olympia, Guadalupe, and Eagle 

 mountains, and on the Staked Plains in Texas. The 

 woolly-jointed stems at once serve to distinguish this 

 from the allied species of Bouteloua. 



Fig. 16.— Slough-grass 

 {Beckmannia erucce- 

 formis). 



Fig. 17. — Side Oats (Boute 

 loua curtipendula) . 



Blue, or 



No. 47. Bouteloua oligostachya (Nutt.) Torr. 

 White Grama. (Fig. 18.) 

 This is one of the most abundant and most valued of the Grama grasses, and extends 

 from Wisconsin we.stward to California, and southward into Texas and northern 

 Mexico. It is a perennial, 6 to 18 inches high, its strong rhizomes and numerous 



