172 GRASSES OF IOWA. 



flour said to contain considerable quant'ty of the darnel, which 

 was eaten without any injarious effects. There are other 

 grasses which have a similar narcotic effict. Quite recently 

 it has been claimed by several European investigators, notably 

 Guerin* and Hanausek, f that the fruit of Lolium temulentum 

 contains a poisonous fungus. Guerin states that the hyphae of 

 a fungus constaatly occurs in the nucellus of the seed and the 

 layer of the caryopsis lying between the aleurone layer and 

 the hypha portion of the wall. He also thinks that the toxic 

 aciion of the Loliums is due to this particular fungus hypha. 

 These fungus threads have not been found ia L. italicum and but 

 once in L. perenne. The fungus is allied to Endoconidium temu- 

 lentum. The fungus lives symbiotically in the maturing grain 

 and is therefore not a parasite. Nestler,]: who made an exam- 

 ination of />./)ere?i?ie, L.miUtiflorum, L. remotum Q,nd L. festiicaceum, 

 found nothing comparable to the fungus mycelium which 

 occurred in L temulentum. He also succeeded in demonstrat- 

 ing the presence of the mycelium of the fungus as indicated 

 by Guerin. According to Nestler the Fasarium roseum is iden- 

 tical with the fungus occarring in L. temulentum found by 

 Guerin. 



Sleepy grass. — In the west a species of grass has received the 

 common appellation of sleepy grass. It has long been regarded 

 by range people as poisonous. Dr. Palmer, who found this 

 grass in Coahuila, New Mexico, observed that it was poison- 

 ous to cattle, horses and sheep, causing them temporary 

 sleepiness. Later Dr. Havard§ states that in 1888 he received 

 from Dr. M. E. Taylor, of Stanton, N. M., a grass with the fol- 

 lowing statement: Hereabouts grows a grass — the eating of 

 which by horses will, within a few hours, produce pr,. found 

 sleepiness or stupor, lasting twenty-four or forty-eight hours, 

 when the animals ral'y and give no evidence of bad effects. It 

 is known among cowboys as "sleepy grass" ar.d dreaded by 

 them on their "round ups" as their horses are liable to eat it 

 and cannot then be kept up with the herds. The tradition is 

 that horses that have once eaten of it will not touch it again. 

 To quote from Dr. Havard, 'From the same gentleman I 

 received a letter in 1890, in which he says: 'Since I corre- 

 sponded with Dr. Taylor it has been brought to my notice that 



♦Jour. d. Bot. 12: 230. 3 f. 12: 380. 1898. Bot. Gazette 28: 136. 1899. 

 +Ber. d. Deutsch. Bot. GeseU. 16: 203-357. 1898. 

 $Bor. d. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell. 16: 207-214. pi. 13. 1898. 

 SThe sleepy grass. Garden and Forest. 4: 111. 



