﻿r* 
  ■ 
  

  

  The 
  dleclous 
  nature 
  of 
  buffalo-grass 
  

  

  4 
  

  

  r 
  g 
  

  

  JOHX 
  H. 
  SCHAFFNER 
  

  

  The 
  buffalo-grass, 
  Bulbilis 
  dactyloides 
  (Nutt.) 
  Raf., 
  was 
  ap- 
  

   parently 
  first 
  described 
  by 
  Nuttall 
  in 
  1818 
  from 
  a 
  staminate 
  speci- 
  

   men 
  and 
  named 
  Sesleria 
  dactyloides. 
  In 
  1855, 
  Steudel 
  named 
  the 
  

  

  i 
  

  

  carpellate 
  form 
  Antephora 
  axllliflora 
  and, 
  in 
  1859, 
  Engelmann 
  

   described 
  the 
  buffalo-grass 
  as 
  a 
  diecious 
  plant 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

  

  Buchloe 
  dactyloides. 
  

  

  The 
  species 
  was 
  usually 
  regarded 
  as 
  diecious 
  until 
  in 
  recent 
  

   years 
  some 
  authors 
  have 
  described 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  peculiar 
  type 
  of 
  mone- 
  

  

  cious 
  grass. 
  

  

  t 
  

  

  cious. 
  

  

  All 
  

  

  He 
  says: 
  " 
  During 
  one 
  of 
  my 
  botanical 
  rambles 
  in 
  Kansas, 
  

   while 
  walking 
  over 
  soil 
  newly 
  moved 
  by 
  a 
  freshet, 
  I 
  noticed 
  the 
  

   peculiar 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  individual 
  plants 
  of 
  buffalo 
  grass 
  grow- 
  

   ing 
  upon 
  it. 
  There 
  were 
  scores 
  of 
  them, 
  if 
  not 
  hundreds, 
  

   of 
  them 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  seedlings, 
  having 
  yet 
  not 
  sent 
  out 
  stolons. 
  

   All 
  of 
  these 
  plants 
  were 
  monoecious." 
  Plank 
  thought 
  that 
  the 
  

   stolons 
  proceeding 
  from 
  sexually 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  plant 
  each 
  

   reproduced 
  its 
  own 
  form. 
  And 
  it 
  is 
  true, 
  from 
  what 
  appears 
  

   below, 
  that 
  any 
  given 
  stolon 
  will 
  produce 
  only 
  staminate 
  or 
  only 
  

   carpellate 
  inflorescences. 
  The 
  main 
  question 
  is 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  original 
  

   nature 
  of 
  the 
  seedlings. 
  In 
  1895, 
  HitchcockJ 
  also 
  described 
  a 
  

   single 
  specimen 
  he 
  had 
  raised 
  from 
  seed 
  as 
  monecious. 
  He 
  says 
  

   that 
  a 
  few 
  seeds 
  were 
  germinated 
  in 
  the 
  greenhouse, 
  that 
  a 
  single 
  

   seedling 
  was 
  transferred 
  to 
  an 
  out 
  door 
  plot, 
  that 
  this 
  plant 
  

   bloomed 
  in 
  t^vo 
  years, 
  and 
  that 
  both 
  carpellate 
  and 
  stammate 
  

  

  flowers 
  were 
  present- 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  recent 
  manuals 
  the 
  following 
  statements 
  appear: 
  

  

  .y^^, 
  Flora 
  of 
  the 
  Southeastern 
  United 
  States 
  

   SpikerJtrdioecio^us" 
  ; 
  N. 
  L. 
  Britton, 
  1904, 
  Manual 
  of 
  the 
  Flora 
  

   of 
  the 
  Northern 
  States 
  aj 
  idCanada^^econd^^ 
  

  

  t 
  Plank. 
  E. 
  N. 
  Buchloe 
  dactyloides, 
  Englm.. 
  not 
  a 
  d.^aous 
  gra 
  Bull. 
  Torrey 
  

  

  Club 
  10- 
  303-306- 
  ^ 
  -A 
  J 
  

  

  % 
  Hitchcock. 
  A. 
  S, 
  Note 
  on 
  buffalo 
  grass. 
  Bot. 
  Gaz. 
  20: 
  464. 
  

  

  119 
  

  

  J. 
  K 
  

  

  1903 
  

  

  