23 
Aristida purpurascens Poir. Beard-grass. 
A taller and somewhat stouter grass than Aristida oligantha, and less branched. It 
grows in similar situations, ranging from Massachusetts to Michigan and south- 
ward to Florida. Valueless. 
Aristida purpurea Nutt. Purple Beard-grass ; Western Beard-grass; Beard-grass; 
Mesquit (or Mezquit) grass. (Fig. 12.) 
Purple Beard-grass grows from 6 inches to a foot high, and is a native of the arid 
regions, from Montana southward to Texas, where it is partienlarly abundant 
in poor soils, and presents a great variety of forms. It is usually found in dry, 
gravelly soils on the plains, mesas, and foothills. In the Eastern and Middle 
States the species of Aristida are deemed of little or no value, but in the South- 
Fic. parte ot -grass. Fic. 13.— Tall Oat-grass. 
da purpurea.) (Arrhenatherum elatius.) 
west, where every mouthful of fodder of any sort has value, they are not wholly 
worthless, Aristida schiedeana and A. bromoides, growing upon rocky and desert 
soil in Arizona and New Mexico, supply in mer thin, scattered tufts ‘‘ dainty 
bits seized upon by stock with avidity.” (Pringle.) 
Aristida setacea Retz. 
Common in the drier €— of India, e... in dry, poor soils, The Telinga 
paper-makers construct their frames PPPI aga grass is used also for 
making brooms, ee ee and sereens Une eeu 
Aristida stricta Michx. Downy Triple-awn; sonans : 
This is one of the “wire grasses” of the Southern States, growing to the height of 
20r3 feet. The simple stems are terminated by a narrow agen: — a 
foot in eme It is common along dry, sandy ridges and in the pine barrens. —— 
