20 



Fig. 14. ANDROPOGON PROVnsrCIAIilS Lam. Encycl. 1:376. 1783. (A. 

 furcatus Willd. Sp. PI. 4 : 919. 1815.) BIG BLUE-STEM.— A stout perennial 

 6-16 dm. (2°-b°) high, with long leaves, and rather thick spikes 3-10 cm. (li'-4') 

 long. Sessile spikelet (a) 8-10 mm. {4"-5'0 long; awn of the fourth or flowering 

 glume (e) 10-15 mm. (5"-8") long, loosely spiral; first and second glumes {b, c) 

 nearly equal and but slightly exceeding the third (of).— From the Rocky 

 Mountains eastward to the Atlantic and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 

 August to October. 



Var. FURCATUS Hack, in DC. Monog. Phan. 6: 443. 1889, base of the pedicellate 

 spikelet is glabrous; var. lindheimeri Hack 1. c. the base of the leaves are 

 densely barbate with long hairs; .spikelets 10 mm. (.5") long; in var.ptcxAXTHUS 

 Hack 1. c. the leaves are glabrous, .spikelets 7-8 mm. (3M") long, densely imbri- 

 cated. 



This grass grows in a great variety of soils and is especially abundant and 

 highly valued for hay in the prairie regions. 



