SPERMATOPHYTA GRAMINEAE GRASSES 355 



die from hunger and thirst. An instance is also recorded of a case where so 

 many of these needles had accumulated among the feathers of an American 

 Ostrich as to cause extensive ulceration which finally resulted in the death of 

 ! the bird. The old world S. incbrians acts very much like our sleepy grass. 



Stipa comata, Trin. and Rupr. Western Stipa. Needle Grass 



A rather stout, erect, caespitose perennial, 1^-4 feet high, with mostly in- 

 ! volute leaves; loosely-flowered panicles, 8 to 12 inches long; spikelets with 

 ; nearly equal, long-attenuate-pointed, empty glumes about 12 lines long, and thinly 





Fig. 146. Western Stipa or Needle Grass (Stipa comata). 



pubescent flowering glumes about 6 lines long; awn slender, 21/2-3 inches long, 

 strongly flexuose or variously curled and twisted. Distributed in western Iowa, 

 Nebraska, Utah, Oregon, California and Arizona. 



Stipa spartea. Trin. Porcupine Grass 



A stout, erect perennial, with simple culms 3 to 5 feet high ; long, narrow 

 leaves and contracted, few-flowered panicles, 4 to 8 inches long; spikelets 



