10 ERYTHEA. 



to the hay; T. cyathiferwn, which is less common than the preced- 

 ing; Elymus triticoides, also known as Red Top, and entirely distinct 

 from E. condensatus, which also occurs abundantly;f Eleocharis 

 palustris (Water Grass), and species of Juncus. These are the 

 most abundant plants in the meadows. The following species also 

 commoidy occur, and are widely distributed throughout the region, 

 though the individual plants of each are not as abundant: 



Polygonum Muhlenbergii, plentiful in the shallows of Honey Lake, 

 and in meadows and pastures. It is called Sour Dock, and is much 

 disliked by farmers, on account of the rapidity with which it 

 spreads and the fact that horses and cattle will not eat it; sheep 

 seem to be the only domestic animals that will crop it, but they are 

 not raised in the Tule Confederacy at present; there is some talk of 

 introducing them as weed exterminators. This plant forms a large 

 part of the "tule hay," a hay of little value, save for bedding purposes. 



Rumex occidentalis is occasionally met with in the meadows. 



Beckmannia erucceformis uniflorus, Water Grass, is common in wet 

 places and along the borders of sloughs; it is locally known as 

 Wild Millet, and is valued as one of the best fodder grasses. In the 

 state of Washington it has been found to grow in the strongest wet- 

 alkali bogs. 



Bolelia ynihhella forms large masses of bright blue color in wet 

 places and shallows of the sloughs. 



Zygadenus venenosus was found sparingly in a wet meadow on 

 Byer's ranch. Z. panicidatus occurs plentifully among sagebrush 

 on the south side of the valley, west of Datura post-office, and 

 probably elsewhere. Both species are reported to be exceedingly 

 poisonous to sheep, in California, and, at least one of them, in Mon- 

 tana. Complaint has recently been made of milch cows dying 

 from poisoning early in the season, on one of the ranches in the Tule 

 Confederacy, but the residents are uncertain to what plant to 

 attribute the injury; an early-flowering Delphiniwn(V), which I was 

 too late to see, and Bolelia have been considered the cause, it is 

 more probably due, however, to eating Zygadenus. 



|The popular idea is that constant mowing year after year causes 

 Elymus condensatus, to degenerate into E. triticoides, but I was able to 

 prove to my entire satisfaction that there are clear specific differences 

 between the two. 



