SUSPECTED SPECIES. 139 



Hundreds of acres of reclaimed swamp land in Michigan and Wiscon- 

 sin have, however, been made worthless by the dense growth, horses 

 refusing to pass through it to cultivate the soil. The stinging hairs 

 of a closely related species, JJ. holosericea were the cause of the death 

 of several horses in California in April, 1900. 



LYGODESMIA. 



{Lygodesmia jmicea Don.) 



A smooth erect perennial, 4 to 12 inches high, with rush-like 

 rigid, much-branched stems, linear or scale-like leaves, and scattered 

 heads of pink or rose colored flowers. This species, sometimes 

 known as prairie pink, grows abundantl}' on dry prairies and plains 

 in Park, Sweet Grass, Gallatin, Meagher, Lewis and Clarke, Choteau, 

 and Teton counties. The general distribution of the plant is from 

 Minnesota to New Mexico and Nevada. It has been suspected by 

 stockmen both in Montana and Utah of being poisonous to stock. 

 The plant was not investigated, but it was ascertained that the milky 

 orange-colored juice of nonflowering plants gathered at Toston was 

 extremely bitter and disagreeable to the taste. 



BLACK GREASEWOOD. 



{Sarcohatus vermiculatus (Hook.) Torr.) 



A rigid, much-branched, erect, and scragg}" shrul), 2 to 8 feet high, 

 with linear leaves and smooth white bark upon the branches. This 

 plant is found in alkaline soil near the head waters of the Missouri 

 and Yellowstone, at Great Falls, and along Belt Creek. It is distrib- 

 uted from western Nebraska to W3^omiug and Nevada and to New 

 Mexico. 



This plant grows in strongly alkaline soil, and is as a rule abundant 

 wherever it occurs. No complaint of the plant being deleterious to 

 stock in an}" way has been sent in to the Department of Agriculture 

 from Montana. A correspondent in New Mexico states, however, 

 that on one occasion he counted as many as 1,000 sheep that had been 

 killed by eating the leaves of this plant. He claimed that cows are 

 not affected by eating it at any time and that sheep can eat it freely in 

 winter. Fatalities caused by eating the plant may perhaps be due 

 more to the bloating effect than to any poisonous substances which 

 the plant contains. 



ERIOGONUM. 



{Eriogonum spp.) 



Plants with acid juice, alternate entire leaves, stems from 3 to 10 

 inches high, and small, delicate flowers of a white or yellow color. 



