NATIVE GRASSES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 83 



deforested areas are closely sodded with perennial grasses, is 

 struck with the insignificance of permanent grasses there and 

 the almost entire absence of sod. 



To speak of Arizona and Southern California: In the bottom 

 of the valleys and along the line of the water-courses, though 

 water may not flow over the surface except during the period of 

 summer or winter 'rains, and in soil more or less impregnated 

 with alkali, the traveler occasionally meets with natural meadows. 



DisticJilis maritima, with its creeping roots forming a close 

 network in the soil, and Sporobolus Wrightii, growing in great 

 clumps, chiefly form these meadows. The former has wiry 

 stems, and its foliage is tough, but animals accustomed to sub- 

 duing spring opuntias and thorny shrubs thrive on it. The 

 latter is a rigid, coarse grass, its culms often four to five feet 

 high and as thick as a goose quill. "When its stems are but 

 recently grown animals browse away their upper portion, and 

 cull out somewhat from amongst the bristling stumps of the 

 stems of former years, standing dense and stiff, some two feet 

 in height, the long radical leaves of the plant. To arrive after 

 nightfall and a long forced drive to reach grass and 

 water upon such a meadow, and to be compelled to picket our 

 horses on such pasturage, closely gnawed away by the herds of 

 ranches far and near, seems hard, but from May till August the 

 valleys and plains afford nothing better. 



Sporobolus cryptandrus var. strictus has much the habit and 

 value of S. WrigTitii. Sporobolus asperifolius occupies patches of 

 wet soil with a fine herbage, and its abundant and leafy sterile 

 culms yield forage more easily appreciated by animals. Pant cum 

 obtusum growing in low lands, particularly in the partial shade 

 of shrubs, contributes a trifle of forage by its long, wiry, but 

 leafy creeping stems. 



In low lands scattered tufts of Andropogon saccharoides and 

 Trichloris fasciculata contribute a better food to animals, as 



