Apache-plume, also known as fallugie and pofiil, is a many- 

 branched, often evergreen shrub, typically 2 to 3 feet tall, but at- 

 taining 6 or 7 feet in height under the most favorable conditions. 

 The name Fallugia commemorates Virgilio Fal(l)ugi, seventeenth 

 century abbot of Vallombrosa, near Florence, Italy, and a writer on 

 botanical subjects. This celebrated monastery in 1870 became the 

 seat of the Italian Royal School of Forestry. The specific name, 

 paradoxa^ from two Greek words meaning contrary to opinion, was 

 given to this plant because it is a shrub while other members of the 

 genus, Sieversia, in which this species was originally placed, are 

 herbaceous perennials. Its common name is derived from the 

 fancied resemblance of its feathery-plumed seed clusters to the eagle- 

 plumed war bonnets of the Apache Indians. Apache-plume belongs 

 to the rose family (Rosaceae). The genus Fallugia is usually con- 

 sidered by conservative botanists to be "monotypic", consisting of 

 the one species, paradoxa, only. 



Apache-plume occurs from western Texas and southwestern Colo- 

 rado to southern Nevada, southeastern California, and south into 

 Mexico. It ordinarily grows at elevations of 5,000 to 7,500 feet in 

 Arizona and New Mexico, although it extends up to 8,500 feet in 

 northern New Mexico. While it attains its best development in 

 deep, moist, rich sites, such as open canyon bottoms and the sides 

 of arroyos, the species occurs in a great variety of soils, including 

 dry, rocky ridges, from the lower brush types through the wood- 

 land (pinon-juniper) type to the open ponderosa pine belt. It is 

 most common in the more southerly parts of its range where it 

 usually occurs in sandy or clay loams. 



This shrub is common, occasionally locally abundant, and of con- 

 siderable importance on some ranges. In general, it is fair to low 

 in palatability for cattle, sheep, and goats, but on some ranges it 

 ranks as fairly good or even good forage for both cattle and sheep. 

 Deer nibble at Apache-plume, sometimes to a fair extent, and pos- 

 sibly other game animals. Its chief value is on winter ranges where 

 its small, bunched, evergreen leaves and relatively long, delicate 

 twigs are attractive to grazing animals. It endures close grazing 

 very well, shows excellent recuperative powers, and is a valuable 

 natural aid in erosion control. 



The Tewa Indians 1 of New Mexico use the smaller branches tied in bundles 

 as brooms and the larger and straight branches for arrow shafts. 



The leaves resemble those of cliff rose (Cowania stansburiana) but are 

 neither glandular-dotted nor) sticky (viscid). The bark of Apache-plume is 

 white or light-colored and hairy (villous) on the young twigs, becoming hair- 

 less (glabrous) and somewhat shreddy on the older branches. The young 

 branchlets of cliffrose are reddish brown and glandular and, before it peels 

 off with age, the bark becomes more conspicuously shreddy or flaky than that 

 of Apache-plume. The showy white flowers of Apache-plume appear as early 

 as May or June. The rather dense plumelike seed clusters, at first greenish 

 and later reddish-tinged, are very distinctive in the autumn. 



Wooton and Standley 2 have called attention to the fact that this evergreen 

 shrub is well worthy of cultivation for decorative purposes. 



1 Robbins, W. W., Harrington, J. P., and Frei re-Mar reco, B. ETIINOBOTANY OF THE 

 TEWA INDIANS. U. S. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 55, 124 pp., illus. 1916. 



2 Wooton, E. O., and Standley, P. C. FLORA OF NEW MEXICO. U. S. Natl. Mus., Contrib. 

 U. S. Natl. Herbarium 19, 794 pp. 1915. 



