96 NATIVE GRASSES OF NORTHERN MEXICO. 



herbage is tender, its growth strong, and it might be cultivated 

 to advantage in fields capable of profuse irrigation, 



Panicum reticulatuiii, Torr,, is a soft and tender annual, grow- 

 ing in low, scattered tufts on rich plains, and contributes not a 

 little to the sustenance of the herds which range over them. 



Panicum ccesjntosum, Swartz. On rich, moist soil this forms 

 a low, dense mat of tender and leafy herbage, relished by animals. 

 Although only an annual, it might well be employed in irrigated 

 fields for grazing. 



Eriocliloa pohjstacliya, H. B. K., like Panicum sanguinale, L., 

 is a weed in cultivated fields, and often yields large crops of a 

 quality which would be considered good in the southwest. 



Hilaria cenchroides, H. B. K. Here this is a plant of much 

 importance to the stock grower. It forms a close jjerennial sod 

 in patches of greater or less extent on the plains and mesas. As 

 its culms are few and small and its leaves short, its yield is light, 

 but it is &r pasture grass of good character and quality. 



Hilaria mutica, Benth, called in Arizona "Black Gramma/* 

 is considered one of the most valuable grasses in that region. It 

 grows in dense perennial clumps about a foot broad, and these 

 growing close together, to the exclusion of other species, occupy 

 areas of considerable extent, usually in dej)ressions of j)lains or 

 mesas, sometimes even on hillsides. Except during the rainy 

 season, about August, the plants show few living leaves, but at 

 all times of the year the numerous branching stems contain nutri- 

 ment. The clumps are detached from the soil by a blow with a 

 mattock directed at their base, and this giVes rise to the saying 

 that hay is cut in Arizona with a hoe. As the dead leaves and 

 their sheaths adhere for a long time on the slow growing peren- 

 nial branches, a patch of this grass presents a dark grey appear- 

 ance, which gives it the name of Black Gramma. Its stems are 

 very hard, so that I was at first surj^rised that animals Could eat 

 it at all. My horses soon got tired of it, preferring softer grasses. 



