Plants Used by Sheep on Mountain Range. 1 5 



a patch of it they eat it clean leaving nothing but about an inch 

 of the central core of the stem projecting above ground. This 

 plant is reputedly poisonous. This phase of the question is dis- 

 cussed later. (Fig. 8.) 



Solidago elongata Nutt. Golden rod. Abundant and eaten in the 

 evenings. 



Thalictrum occidental Gray. Meadow rue. Eaten in the evenings 

 but not very leafy. 



Aconitum columbianum Nutt. Aconite. Eaten in the evenings. 

 Possesses considerable foliage. 



Festuca subulata Trin. Fescue. A tall grass but not furnishing a great 

 amount of forage. 



Castilleja minlata Dougl. Indian paint brush. Eaten only in the 

 evenings. 



Potentilla nuttallii Lehm. Cinque foil. Eaten in the evenings. 



There seemed to be no plants on the edges of the meadow which 

 the sheep consistently avoided. If they ate there at all they ate every- 

 thing. They swept over the ground and mowed it clean. 



The eagerness with which the sheep ate V arairum calif ornicum is 

 quite interesting in the light of the reputed poisonous qualities of this 

 plant. Many farmers are in the habit of attributing to it the death of 

 sheep, cattle, and horses. On the smaller Vassar meadow near the 

 south end there was a large quantity of this plant. With its large green 

 leaves and panicles of young fruits it stood about five feet high and was 

 mixed with other typical meadow plants. On one evening the writer 

 saw the sheep sweep over this patch and in less than fifteen minutes 

 east every V eratrum plant clean on about one acre. As is shown 

 in figure 8, they left nothing but a stub. The writer has also re- 

 ceived a report from near Lake Pend d'Oreille, in Idaho, of horses 

 eating and relishing this plant. There is no doubt but that for sheep at 

 least his plant is not only not poisonous, but is greatly relished and is 

 a useful article of food. 



THE YELLOW PINE FORESTS. 



In the yellow pine forests the principal food plant is the buck- 

 brush, Ceanothus sanguineus Pursh. The sheep are very fond of this 

 plant. They strip it of leaves and fruits as high as they can reach and 

 beat down the taller bushes with their necks and bodies and eat up just 

 as far as they can. Higher up on the mountains the sticky laurel, 

 Ceanothus velutlnus Dougl., replaces the buckbrush in the vegetation. 

 It is equally relished by the sheep, but in the region studied the sheep 

 rarely got up to it. The fruits of both of these species of Ceanothus 

 are very oily and are very fattening. Sheep grazing upon them become 

 sleek and fat very quickly. These two plants are the most fattening 



