﻿120 
  Schaffner: 
  Diecious 
  nature 
  of 
  buffalo-grass 
  

  

  stoloniferous 
  monoecious 
  or 
  apparently 
  dioecious 
  grass''; 
  A. 
  S. 
  

   Hitchcock 
  in 
  Gray's 
  New 
  Manual 
  of 
  Botany, 
  seventh 
  edition, 
  

   1908 
  — 
  "Seedlings 
  are 
  monoecious, 
  but 
  the 
  staminate 
  and 
  pistillate 
  

   branches 
  propagate 
  their 
  own 
  kind"; 
  J. 
  M. 
  Coulter 
  and 
  A. 
  Nelson, 
  

   1909, 
  New^ 
  Manual 
  of 
  Botany 
  of 
  the 
  Central 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  

   "Spikelets 
  dioecious 
  (rarely 
  monoecious), 
  very 
  unlike"; 
  Britton 
  

   and 
  Brown, 
  1913, 
  An 
  Illustrated 
  Flora 
  of 
  the 
  Northern 
  United 
  

   States, 
  Canada 
  and 
  the 
  British 
  Possessions, 
  second 
  edition 
  

   "A 
  perennial 
  stoloniferous 
  monoecious 
  or 
  apparently 
  dioecious 
  

   grass." 
  

  

  The 
  writer 
  has 
  been 
  Intimately 
  acquainted 
  with 
  buffalo-grass 
  

   since 
  childhood 
  and 
  had 
  always 
  regarded 
  it 
  as 
  diecious 
  until 
  he 
  read 
  

   the 
  statements 
  In 
  the 
  recent 
  manuals. 
  Recently 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  

   its 
  true 
  nature 
  became 
  of 
  interest 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  possible 
  use 
  

   In 
  experiments 
  on 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  sex 
  In 
  the 
  higher 
  plants. 
  It 
  was 
  

   thought 
  that 
  a 
  plant 
  which 
  began' 
  its 
  life 
  by 
  developing 
  both 
  

   staminate 
  and 
  carpellate 
  branches 
  and 
  then 
  continued 
  these 
  

   branches 
  with 
  but 
  one 
  type 
  of 
  sexual 
  expression 
  might 
  yield 
  some 
  

   interesting 
  results 
  when 
  placed 
  under 
  experimental 
  control. 
  

   But, 
  as 
  will 
  appear 
  below, 
  this 
  expectation 
  was 
  not 
  realized 
  be- 
  

   cause 
  buffalo-grass 
  is 
  a 
  diecious 
  species 
  under 
  normal 
  conditions, 
  

   and 
  the 
  writer 
  has 
  not 
  succeeded 
  in 
  his 
  attempt 
  to 
  induce 
  a 
  mone- 
  

   cious 
  character 
  under 
  abnormal 
  conditions, 
  as 
  he 
  has 
  with 
  certain 
  

   other 
  plants. 
  

  

  Field 
  observations 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1919, 
  field 
  observations 
  were 
  made 
  at 
  

   Morganville, 
  Clay 
  County, 
  Kansas, 
  Because 
  of 
  abundant 
  rains 
  

  

  g 
  r 
  

  

  in 
  the 
  spring, 
  especially 
  in 
  June, 
  the 
  buffalo-grass 
  bloomed 
  very 
  

   profusely 
  and 
  the 
  season 
  was 
  unusually 
  favorable 
  for 
  the 
  study. 
  

   In 
  this 
  region 
  the 
  typical 
  prairie 
  consists 
  largely 
  of 
  Andropogon 
  

   scoparius 
  Michx. 
  and 
  A. 
  furcatus 
  Muhl. 
  The 
  buffalo-grass 
  is 
  

   usually 
  in 
  small 
  sharply 
  defined 
  areas, 
  often 
  forming 
  a 
  nearly 
  

   pure 
  stand 
  or 
  containing 
  one 
  or 
  more 
  species 
  of 
  Boiiteloiia. 
  On 
  

   large 
  normal 
  areas 
  there 
  is 
  often 
  a 
  space 
  a 
  yard 
  or 
  more 
  wide 
  which 
  

   is 
  purely 
  carpellate 
  or 
  purely 
  

  

  the 
  staminate 
  and 
  carpellate 
  inflorescences 
  rather 
  closely 
  and 
  

   uniformly 
  intermingled. 
  

  

  staminate 
  

  

  memory 
  

  

  