with 2 to 4 stem, leaves. The leaf blades are from 3 to 6 inches long, 

 flat, and taper to a blunt tip ; they are sparingly hairy, especially 

 when young, and are densely hairy at the throat. The flowers are 

 borne in rather dense, oblong clusters on the stalks of the usually 

 loosely branched inflorescence, which spreads but does not nod. 

 The entire inflorescence is subtended by several bracts, the largest 

 of which is leaflike, often surpassing the inflorescence in length. In 

 general, this species is probably utilized more than millet woodrush, 

 because it appears to be somewhat more palatable and also is more 

 likely to occur in areas grazed by both cattle and sheep. A. A. Han- 

 sen 1 mentions a case of sickness and loss among cattle and horses 

 pastured in a Pennsylvania area where a third of the herbage was 

 composed of this species. He states that no poisonous plants could 

 be found, and that an autopsy showed a large accumulation of the 

 "seeds" of this plant in the digestive tracts of the dead animals. 

 "The verdict of the veterinarian was that death was due to eating 

 the stalks and indigestible fruits of the woodrush, which so clogged 

 the alimentary tract that food could not pass through." 



Spike woodrush (/. spied' 'twn} , which grows mainly in the spruce 

 and alpine belts throughout the western mountains, has its dense, 

 stalkless flower clusters aggregated into a nodding, spikelike inflo- 

 rescence. It occurs widely in North America, ranging from Alaska 

 to California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Montana, and. in the East, 

 from the Arctic regions south to New Hampshire and New York. 

 It is also native to the Old World. This species is commonly 4 to 

 16 inches in height with the stems closely tufted, although the indi- 

 vidual plants are relatively small as rootstocks; are lacking. The 

 leaves are erect, narrow, often inrolled, and mostly less than 4 

 inches long. This plant prefers moist, sandy loams and is often 

 associated with tufted hairgrass, bluegrasses, and aspen. Its pala- 

 tability is moderate, about the same as that of millet woodrush, al- 

 though, as it produces less herbage, its forage value is also less. 



1 Hansen, A. A. MECHANICAL INJURIES CAUSED BY WEEDS AND OTHER PLANTS Ind 

 Acad. Sci. Proc. (1924) 34 : 229-254, illus. 1925. 



