50 



BULLETIN 201, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



STIPA VASEYI Scribn. 



Stipa vaseyi (common needle grass) is widely scattered throughout the Rocky Moun- 

 tain region from southern Montana southward. Although commonly very closely 

 grazed and in many instances nearly, if not quite, exterminated by stock, it has a very 

 bad reputation in some localities. It is known in the Southwest, especially through 

 portions of New Mexico, as sleepy grass, and it is said to have at certain times a very 

 deleterious effect on live stock, especially horses, which graze upon it. The reliable 

 information concerning it, however, is very meager, and requires confirmatory exper- 

 imentation. It is an interesting fact that the species is very closely related, and, 

 indeed, is considered by some to be doubtfully distinct from what has repeatedly been 

 pronounced a valuable species in the Northwest, namely, Stipa viridula. There ap- 

 pear to be no complaints against this latter species from the Dakotas, Montana, or 

 Wyoming, where it is most abundant. In places, the sleepy grass is quite a conspic- 

 uous ingredient of native hay. No complaints have come to our attention regarding 

 its effect upon stock when fed to them in a dry condition. In some seasons, compara- 

 tively large quantities of it are included in the hay cut upon native meadows in the 

 Cimarron Canyon of New Mexico. 



No. 9468 was collected in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, August 5, 1908. 

 The specimen was in early blossom and was cut 3 inches high. Its percentage of 

 moisture was 8.10. Other constituents (on a water-free basis) were as follows: Ash, 

 7.80; ether extract, 2.77; crude fiber, 34.08; nitrogen-free extract, 41.30; protein, 

 14.05; pentosans, 20.17. 



STIPA VIRIDULA Trin. x 



As has been stated, Stipa viridula is closely related to and sometimes considered 

 indistinguishable from the sleepy grass of the Southwest. It may be looked upon as 

 the northern extension of that species, but it apparently lacks any injurious qualities 

 which the other may have. > It grows commonly in large bunches in dry soils and is 

 especially partial to soils which have been somewhat disturbed by scanty cultivation. 

 It has been called feather bunch-grass, but the name is not in very common use. The 

 quality of its hay appears to be very good and it is readily grazed by live stock. 



No. 8813 was collected near Fargo, N. Dak., August 11, 1907. The sample repre- 

 sents the plant practically mature, half of the seed having dropped off. It was har- 

 vested 2 inches high. 





Percent- 

 age of 

 moisture. 



Water-free basis (per cent). 



Material analyzed. 



Ash. 



Ether 

 extract. 



Crude 

 fiber. 



Nitrogen- 

 free 

 extract. 



Protein. 



Pento- 

 sans. 



Our sample No. 8813 



6.24 



9.79 

 7.61 



2.34 

 2.68 



33.18 

 30.30 



46.36 

 50.61 



8.33 

 8.80 



25.67 













8.04 



2.61 



30.87 



49.77 



8.71 











1 Colorado Bui. 12, p. 66; Montana Report, 1902, pp. 60, 66, 67; South Dakota Bui. 40, p. 58. 

 SYNTHERISMA SANGUINALIS (L.) Dulac. 



The crab-grass (Syntherisma sanguinalis) , like many other species, is a vile weed in 

 some sections; in others it is a valuable forage plant. It is remarkable in its persist- 

 ency and volunteers from seed year after year, often against such tenacious species as 

 Kentucky bluegrass, which may often make a beautiful lawn in the spring only to be 

 disfigured later in the year by brown patches of this weedy crab-grass. It is an intro- 

 duced species, widely distributed throughout the country at the present time. In 

 portions of the South it is cut for hay, always as a volunteer crop. In many of the 



