nativp: grasses of the pacific slope. 89 



(luring the (sumiiu'r rains, aiiitl tiiis iiiid tlic two s]»et'it'S of J'tiji/m- 

 liliot'Kvt may 1k' classed in ]»oint of economics value with the 

 s])ec'ie8 of Aristida nwA lioii/chnta, tliougli apparently less ((mi- 

 nion than tliese. 



flUuria renrhroidrs, a perennial, not rare on liiils, grows 

 freely, fruits during tlie dry months, from April to duly, and 

 contribute.! a little to save stock from starvation. So likewise 

 does Muhlvulivi'tjia, lioth wiry Init nutritious grasses. Under the 

 summer rains they grow more luxuriantly ; and the latter growing 

 in bushy (dumps, retains in its wiry stems much nutriment. s<i 

 that it supplies the more common sort of hay in the towns and 

 at the stoit stations, lieing pulled l)y the ^lexicans or Iiulian.-. 

 and brought in on the backs of donkeys or on carts, even as late 

 as May, when it is gray with age. 



Poa aiuiiin var. ftrirta and Fcslura niirros/tir/ii/s furnish ; 

 few tender bits of food to cattle following tip the mountain 

 streams in spring. 



Beside streams of mountain canyons, Jnipcruld Hrnsiliciixtf 

 var. at any season furnishes tall, leafy (dumi)s, to be eaten down 

 eagerly by the animals fortunate enough to attain to them. On 

 the higher slopes of the mountains, particularly in those turned 

 from the direct rays of the sun, and under the partial shade of 

 pines and oaks, I found in ^fay, Atrojhnis (Gli/nrid) Ctdifuniica 

 aiul MiiJiIcnber(fi(t n'rcttreiig growing in clumps, standing so close 

 together as to remind one of a northern meadow. The former 

 furnishes the tenderest and sweetest of i)asturage, ami the latter 

 is a soft and leafy grass. Tliese two species largely compose the 

 "deer parks" of those mountains, hut unfortunately for our horses, 

 while we were camping on the mountains they began at such an 

 altitude (GOOO feet), that we could seldom get our horses up high 

 enough to take the benefit of them. 



In Arizona the coarse grass of the valleys was called l)y a 

 Spanish name, which sounded as I used to hear it pronounced 



