GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 43 



In the hot, arid regions of the Southwest, which are its home, 

 the Sand-grass is not called a weed, for its thin, wiry stems afford 

 some grazing where otherwise there might be none; but when it 

 appears in soils where better forage can be made to flourish, it 

 should be crowded out. Its seeds are often an impurity of western 



It grows in tufts, from tufted roots, the stems six to eighteen 

 inches tall, many-branched. Leaves three to six inches long, but 

 hardly more than an eighth of an inch wide, pointed and involute. 

 Panicle slender, four to eight inches long, its short, erect branches in 

 fascicles of two to four ; the slim spikelets have the glumes one- 

 nerved, the first only about half as long as the second, the lemma 

 keeled and hairy, its three awns divergent, the central one extended 

 much beyond the other two. 



Means of control the same as for the two preceding grasses. 



MEXICAN DROP-SEED 



Muhlenbergia mexicana, Trin. 



Other English names: Meadow Muhlenbergia, Wood-grass, Knot- 

 root Grass. 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by creeping root- 

 stocks. 



Time of bloom : August to September. 



Seed-time: September to October. 



Range : New Brunswick and Ontario to the Dakotas and southward 

 to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Habitat : Low ground meadows and pastures, woodlands, and banks 

 of streams. 



When growing along the sides of swiftly flowing streams, the 

 strong, creeping, knotted, and scaly rootstocks of this grass are 

 often of much service in binding the soil and preserving it from 

 washing, but it is otherwise of very little value. If cut or grazed 

 while very young, it makes good hay and forage ; but it soon 

 becomes hard, wiry, and innutritious, and cattle will not eat it. 



Stems smooth, two to three feet high, often branching at the 

 base, usually decumbent and taking root at the lower joints. 

 Leaves four to six inches long, less than a quarter-inch wide, rough 

 to the touch; on the branches they are much smaller and more 



