Prairie- and Sand Hill District. 539 
er an Formation. This is included in the grass formations, 
because the covering mainly consists of Bouteloua oligostachys and Buchloö 
(Bulbitis) dactyloides, both present in nearly equal importance. From the middle 
of June throughout the remainder of the year these grasses dry up and are 
not conspicuous. Then the pepper-grass Zepidium intermedium appears inter- 
rupted by patches of Opuntia missouriensis (= O. polyacantha)'). Secondary 
species have little or no importance in this formation. The pepper-grass cactus 
formation extends over vast stretches of mesa and table-land north of the 
Platte River, on the flat tops of peaks and buttes in the Bad Lands of 
Nebraska and Montana. 
4. The Salt Marshes and Meadows. 
Salty or alkaline marshes or meadows are to be found throughout the 
prairie region. In the meadows Distichlis spicata var. stricta is always the 
controlling and is often the sole inhabitant. Agropyrum pseudorepens is often 
associated with it. 
In small, salt water ponds in the bottoms, Auppia occidentalis occurs, while 
in salty wet soil grows Salwornia herbacca, and in the drier soil Atriplex 
hastata, A. argentea are found in dense patches. Polygonum ramosissimum 
also occurs in places. In southern Kansas are Corispermum hyssopifolium, 
Cycloloma platyphylla, Atriplex expansa, Kochia americana, Scirpus maritimus 
and S. Zorreyi, and in Big Salt Marsh in addition, according to Hitchcock, 
grow Aster exilis, Flaveria angustifolia, Chenopodium rubrum. All through 
the central part of Kansas”), salt marshes and salt springs are quite common 
and small salt licks are found in most parts of the state. 
Along a stream issuing from Big Marsh one of the largest of the salt marshes oceur Seirpus 
pungens (= $. americanus), S. campestris, S, lacustris, and in the higher parts of the alluvial 
üepoit Di Distichlis spicata, Panicum crus-galli, Elymus virginieus, Spartina cynosuroides, Rumex 
‚ Polygonum hydropiper, P. persicaria, P. ramosissimum, Amarantus chlorostachys (= A. 
were En Iva ciliata. On the outer margin of the barren salt area are the following ceircum- 
areas of vi tion 
Die is spicata L. (= D. maritima Raf.). 
2. Distichlis ige L., Polygonum ramosissimum Michx., Suaeda diffusa Watson. 
3. A wide, eircumarea of spicata L., Polygonum ramosissimum Michx., Suaeda diffusa 
Be Iva Mer wild. (rare 
. Distichlis maritima Raf,, Polygonum ramosissimum Michx., Suaeda diffusa Wats., Iva cili- 
ata wald, Sporohoi heterolepis Gray, S. texanus Vasey, Atriplex expansa Wats. (rare), Aster 
multifloru 
.? Im va en Willd., Distichlis spieata L,, Polygonum ramosissimum Michx., Sporobolus 
heterolepis Gray, S. texanus Vasey, Atriplex expansa Wats., Aster multiflorus Ait., Seirpus pungens 
Vahl, Hordeum jubatum L., Panicum virgatum L., Gaura parviflora Dougl. (occasional), Ambrosia 
psilostachya DC.‘ (rare). 
1) See also BESSEY, CHARLES, E,: American Naturalist 
XXX: ım1. 
2) Scharrner, Joun’H.: Notes on the salt marsh Plants of northern Kansas. Botanical 
Gazette XXV (1898): 255—260; HırcHcock, A. S.: Ecological plant Geography of Kansas, loc. eit. 
