Ballhcad sandwort is a tufted perennial weed with opposite, stiff, sharp- 

 pointed, grasslike or needlelike leaves. This species lacks a well-established, 

 distinctive common name and ballhead sandwort is suggested, ballhead being a 

 rather liberal interpretation of the specific name conyesta which appropriately 

 refers to the aggregation of the flowers into dense clusters, congestus (-a,, -urn) 

 being a Latin adjective meaning congested or heaped together. Ballhead sand- 

 wort is distributed in the mountains from Montana and Colorado to California 

 and Washington, occurring mostly between 5,000 and 10,000 feet, although found 

 at both lower and higher altitudes. It grows on a wide variety of soils from 

 deep, rich, moist loams to dry gravels, in grass, weed, sagebrush, aspen, ponderosa 

 pine, lodgepole pine, and other vegetative types. Although a common plant 

 on many of the Western ranges, it is not abundant, as a rule, and occurs 

 scatteringly in mixture with other plants. 



The palatability of ballhead sandwort varies considerably, especially in dif- 

 ferent localities and with the season of the year, and appears to be highest in 

 those localities where it occurs most abundantly. While the growth is young 

 and tender, the palatability of this species, in Montana, is fairly good for 

 cattle and good for sheep ; in Wyoming and Colorado it is fairly good for cattle 

 but only fair for sheep ; in the Southwest, only fair for both classes of livestock ; 

 in California and the Northwest, poor for sheep and practically worthless for 

 cattle ; and, in Utah, southern Idaho, and Nevada, it is apparently worthless. 



The small, white flowers of this species grow in dense clusters at the tops of 

 the stems. The narrow, rigid, light-green leaves are produced mostly at the 

 base of the plants, while the steins bear three to four pairs of leaves rather 

 distantly spaced, the uppermost pair being much smaller than the others. The 

 flowers of the compact, headlike clusters are subtended by small, egg-shaped, 

 papery-margined bracts. The five sepals are thin, dry and faintly three-nerved, 

 and about one-half as long as the oblong petals. The seed-producing organ 

 (ovary) develops into a three-celled capsule which opens by three two-cleft 

 valves, releasing the numerous minute seeds. 



SANDWORTS (Arena'ria spp.) 



Sandworts are annual or perennial weeds, having opposite leaves and small, 

 white flowers, borne in open or contracted terminal clusters or, less frequently, 

 solitary in the leaf axils. The genus belongs to the chickweed family (Alsina- 

 ceae), which many botanists regard as a tribe or subfamily of the pink family 

 (Silenaceae, or Caryophyllaceae). The generic name is derived from the Latin 

 arenarlus, belonging to sand, and refers to the characteristic habitat of many of 

 the species. The Latin word arena means sand, or figuratively, since the Ro- 

 mans sprinkled sand on the fields used for gladiatorial contests to absorb the 

 blood, the word came to mean any place of combat. The common name, sand- 

 wort, also implies a plant or weed of sandy places, wort being a Middle English 

 word (Anglo-Saxon teyrf) meaning herb. Sandworts, widely distributed 

 throughout the West, are most common on rather dry, sandy, or gravelly soils 

 but are also found on moderately moist, rich loams. The sandworts are com- 

 mon on the western ranges, occurring from the plains and foothills to well 

 above timber line in the mountains) but, as a rule, are scattered among other 

 plants and not abundant in any one place. 



The sandworts, as a class, average from poor to fair in palatability for all 

 classes of livestock, although in Utah, Nevada, southern Idaho, California, and 

 the Northwest they are generally considered practically worthless to, at best, 

 poor forage. The palatability of the sandworts undoubtedly varies not only for 

 the different species but also for the same species in different localities and at 

 different times of the year. In general, the palatability is highest in spring 

 and in localities where the plants are most abundant. 



Of the western sandworts the only annual species is thymeleaf sandwort 

 (A. serpyllifolia) , a cosmopolitan, introduced weed with egg-shaped, distinctly 

 three-nerved leaves, and with the petals shorter than the sepals. Most of the 

 perennial species are readily recognizable by their opposite, grasslike, or pine- 

 needlelike leaves, but a few species have leaves of a broader type. The single 

 ovary bears three threadlike styles and develops into a three-celled globular 

 or oblong fruiting capsule opening by means of three two-cleft valves to dis- 

 charge the numerous seeds. 



