Pool: THE VEGETATION OF THE SANDHILLS OF NEBRASKA 223 



The uplands characterized by the presence of this association 

 are pecuHar because of the growth-form of the dominant species and 

 a number of the commoner interstitials which show various degrees 

 of the same bunch-grass tendency. The individual bunches or 

 tufts of Andropogon scoparius, the most frequent and abundant 

 dominant, are composed of from a few to sometimes a hundred or 

 more slender wiry stems with a height ranging from 1 foot to about 

 2.5 feet. Commonly there are several generations of dead stems to 



9. Bunch-grass, Andropogon scoparius, showing habit of 

 growth, o; single plant, b; and details of spikelet, 

 c, d, e, f. (From Shantz.) 



be seen in these persistent bunches that have not been molested by 

 fire for a number of years. The old leaves and culms frequently 

 persist for many years as a dense recurved brush about the indi- 

 vidual bunches. The persistent bases of the aggregated stems are 

 rather resistant even when exposed to high winds when the sand 

 may be moved away from the bunches to a depth of several inches 

 so that the bunches stand considerably above the general soil level, 



