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



of the herbage goes- to waste. In addition, the plant begins to grow 

 early hi the spring and does not ripen until late in the fall, so that it 

 remains fresh and palatable throughout the season. Though it with- 

 stands trampling well, natural regeneration on protected ranges is 

 scant as compared with that of other species whose seed crop has about 

 the same or even lower viability. 



Mountain June Grass. 



(Koeleria cristata.) 



Koeleria, though a genus of only about 15 species, has wide geo- 

 graphical distribution. In the United States mountain June grass is 

 the only representative of common occurrence and much economic 

 value. 



Mountain June grass is a tufted perennial species, 1 to 2 feet in 

 height, the culms of which are usually pubescent just below the 

 panicle. The leaves, which are mainly basal (Plate XV), are unu- 

 sually numerous. They are flat or slightly inwardly rolled, vary in 

 texture from smooth to rough, and are often hairy. The panicle, 

 pale green in color, is spikelike when young, but during fertilization 

 is rather widely expanded. The lemmas or flowering glumes are 

 glossy, and the plant can nearly always be recognized off hand by the 

 shiny character of the panicle. 



This plant often inhabits very dry situations, though on the lower 

 ranges it matures comparatively early and so largely avoids the driest 

 part of the season. In the higher altitudes moisture is usually present 

 a few inches below the surface. Most of the plants tested wilted strik- 

 ingly, usually beyond recovery in a soil having from 10 to 13.5 per 

 cent water content. Thus the soil-moisture requirements in the par- 

 ticular soil type in which it grows are about the average. 



The flower stalks on the upland ranges were put forth hi 1907 be- 

 tween July 10 and 28; in 1908 between July 10 and 25; and in 1909 

 between July 5 and 25. The seeds begin to ripen about the latter 

 part of the second week in August, but the entire crop is not matured, 

 until about September 10. 



The germinative power of the seed is low. In 1907 an average of 

 three tests gave 16 per cent and in 1908 14 per cent. No test was 

 made in 1909. However, on the lower areas in the Transition zone, 

 for example, the seed was somewhat more viable, though there was 

 no marked contrast in the germinative power. 



Mountain June grass is of considerable importance as a forage plant 

 in the region studied, and few species are more eagerly eaten. The 

 long, soft, and numerous crowded basal leaves are consumed by sheep, 

 cattle, and horses in preference to many more abundant forage plants 

 when green, and, like mountain bunch grass, the leaf blades but not 

 the flower stalks are eaten by sheep after the seeds have reached ma- 



