52 BULLETIN 545, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to ripen about August 25, but owing to the late date of the flower- 

 stalk production only a small seed crop is matured. In 1908 and 

 1909 only 9.3 and 12.5 per cent, respectively, of the seed showed fer- 

 tility. From these figures and from observations on the range, it does 

 not seem likely that a marked increase in the species can be effected 

 by range protection and improved methods of handling. 



If palatability and not abundance and distribution were taken into 

 account, woolly weed would rank among the most important range 

 plants. It is so closely grazed early in the summer that nothing but 

 the root remains. The coarse and comparatively deep root system 

 protects it from actual killing and under ordinary conservative hand- 

 ling of stock it may at least be expected to hold its own. 



CONEFLOWER. 



(Rudbeckia occidentalis.) 



Of the several valuable nongrasslike forage plants, coneflower, 

 sometimes called " nigger head," is one whose actual grazing qualities 

 are often underrated. It is a conspicuous plant, attaining a height 

 of 2 to 5 feet, and having numerous marginally toothed, somewhat 

 rough, ovate leaves, those lowest on the stem being petioled, and the 

 upper ones sessile. Numerous shoots are sent out from the coarse, 

 woody, fibrous perennial root, and the older plants have a bunched 

 growth. This plant, as shown in Plate LII, is usually not branched, 

 and the dense, rayless, oblong, brown head of flowers, resembling a 

 cone, is borne at the apex of the stem. 



The most common and favorable habitats of coneflower are the 

 somewhat shaded banks, mountain swales, and hillsides where the 

 soil is moist but not saturated. One of its most common associates 

 is false hellebore, whose moisture requirements are almost identical. 

 Coneflower is occasionally met with on open, well-drained glades, 

 but never in abundance. In such habitats, in the characteristic 

 basaltic clay loam soil of the region, wilting of all leaves did not take 

 place until the soil moisture was reduced, on the average, to 14 per 

 cent. In the richer soils, those which are heavily impregnated with 

 organic matter, pronounced and long periods of wilting, usually 

 followed by death of the plant, were recorded when the soil con- 

 tained from 16 to 18.5 per cent water content. 



Early in the season the " button" or flower head begins to develop 

 and by August 15 has virtually attained full growth. The seeds, 

 however, do not begin to ripen until about the last week in August 

 the ripening period extending well into September, and the seeds 

 remaining in the head until late in the autumn. The germinative 

 strength of the seed crop in the three years of test was 16, 24.5, and 

 11, respectively. Even in the most favorable situations the seed- 

 lings stand is rather sparse, but reproduction from roots is abundant. 



