71 



No. 232. Stipa leucotricha Trin. & Rupr. Bearded Mcsquite. 



An erect perenuial; 1 to 3 feet high, with very narrow leaves and a loose panicle 

 with a few loug-awned spikelets. One of the best native hay grasses of central 

 and southern Texas. 

 No. 233. Stipa pennata Linn. Feather-grass. 



A native of southern Europe, 1 to 2 feet high, growing in dry, open ground, and 

 often cultivated in gardens as an ornamental, the very long, slender awns being 

 clothed with spreading, silky hairs, presenting a very graceful plume-like 

 appearance. A variety of this grass {Stipa pennata neo-mencana) grows wild in 

 the mountain regions of western Texas and Arizona. It is an elegant form of 

 the species, growing in clumps 6 to 12 inches in di- 

 ameter, and is deserving the attention of the florist. 

 No. 234. Stipa setigera Presl. Bear-grass. 

 A native of California, extending northward to Oregon 

 and eastward through New Mexico and Arizona to 

 Texas. It is common on the coast ranges and on 

 the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where it is re. 

 garded as one of the most valuable of the native 

 bunch grasses. 

 No. 235. Stipa spartea Trin. Porcupine-grass. 

 Rather stout, 18 inches to 3 feet high, with long leaves 

 and few-flowered panicles. The stout and twisted 

 awns are 3 to 6 inches long, and at the base 

 of the flowering glume is a long and very sharp- 

 pointed callus. When mature, the awned flowering 

 glumes soon fall off, leaving the large, pale, straw- 

 colored, persistent empty glumes, which impart to 

 the panicle a characteristic oat-like appearance. 

 The awns, when dry, are bent and very strongly 

 twisted, but when moistened they gradually untwist, 

 a character which enables the seeds to bury them- 

 selves in the ground, this being possible on account 

 of the very sharp callus at the base of the fruiting 

 glume. The same character also renders the seeds 

 of this grass dangerous to sheep, as they readily 

 become attached to the wool, and may penetrate the 

 flesh of the animal, causing serious injury. Aside 

 from this danger of aff'ecting the quality of the 

 wool, and possibly the life of the sheep, this grass 

 may be considered a good forage plant, as it makes a very good hay, although 

 somewhat coarse. It is particularly common in the prairie regions of Iowa, 

 Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota, extending westward to the Rocky 

 Mountains, where it frequently occurs upon the dry foothills and bench lands. 

 This is the Butt'alo-grass of the Saskatchewan region. In some localities it is 



Fig. 86.— St. Avigustine-grasa 

 (Stenotaphrum dirnidiatum) . 



known as Needle-grass, but that name is reserved for Aristula fasciculata. 

 also known as "wild oats" in North Dakota. 



It is 



No. 236. Stipa tenacissima Linn. Esparto. 



A native of the sandy regions of southwestern Europe and northern Africa. It is a 

 tall perennial, with long, stiff, and very tough leaves, from which ropes, baskets, 

 mats, hats, and other articles are woven. The leaves are employed largely in 

 England and this country in the manufacture of paper, for which purpose this 

 grass is superior to straw. It is one of the most important articles of export 

 from Algeria, and from northern Africa and Spain more than 2,000 tons of Esparto 

 are exported to Great Britain annually. "Ten tons of dry Esparto, worth from 

 $18 to $25 per ton, can be obtained from an aci'e under favorable circumstances." 



