96 NATIVE (UlASSES OF NORTHERN MEXICO. 



ht'rl)uge is teiuler, its growth strong, juul it might be cultivated 

 to advautago in fields capable of profuse irrigation. 



Panirum reticulafani, Torr,. is a soft and tender annual, grow- 

 ing ill low, scattered tufts on rich ])lains, and contributes not a 

 litth' to the sustenance of the herds which range over them. 



Patiirnni va'spHosion, Swartz. On rich, moist soil this forms 

 a low, dense mat of tender and leafy herbage, relished by animals. 

 Although only an annual, it might well be employed in irrigated 

 fields for grazing. 



ErUnMoa pubjxtarh ijn, II. B. K., like Panirum sanyninale, L., 

 is a weed in cultivated fields, and often yields large croits of a 

 (juality which would be considered gi>o<] in the southwest. 



Jlihirid triir/iniide.s. II. li. K. Here this is a j^lant of much 

 Importance to the stock grower. It forms a close perennial sod 

 in i>atches of greater or less extent on the plains and mesas. As 

 its culms are few and snudl and its leaves short, its yield is light, 

 but it is a i)asture grass of good character and (jualitv. 



Ililaria tinifira, Benth. called in Arizona *' Black Gramma," 

 is considered one of the most valuable grasses in that region. It 

 growa in dense perennial clumps about a foot broad, aiul these 

 growiiig close together, to the exclusion of other species, occupy 

 areas of considerable extent, usually in depressions of jilains or 

 mesas, someiimes even on hillsides. Excejit during the rainy 

 season, about August, the plants show few living leaves, but at 

 all times of the year the numerous branching stems contain nutri- 

 ment. The clumps are detached from the soil by a blow with a 

 mattock directed at their base, and this gives rise to the saying 

 tluit hay is cut in Arizona with a hoe. As the dead leaves and 

 their sheaths adhere for a long time on the slow growing peren- 

 nial branches, a patch of this grass presents a dark grey appear- 

 ance, which gives it the name of Black Gramma. Its stems are 

 very hard, so that I was at first surjirised that animals could eat 

 it at all. My horses soon got tired of it, preferring softer grasses. 



