NATIVE FORAGE GRASSES 1 39 



lated bunches. Grama grass resembles buffalo grass 

 in its foliage, but may be readily distinguished by the 

 flower stalks. These rise to the height of several inches 

 or in favorable conditions to as much as a foot and a 

 half. Towards the top are i to 3 spikes or flags, one at 

 the end, the other i or 2, if present, at intervals of about 

 an inch below. The flags are about an inch long, 

 brownish or purplish in color and attached at an angle, 

 sometimes nearly horizontally. They act as wind vanes, 

 being all blown to the leeward side. Grama grass is 

 found in varying quantities throughout the Great Plains. 

 There is a second species of grama grass called black 

 grama (Bouteloua hirsuta Lag.), to distinguish it from 

 the one described above, called sometimes blue grama. 

 Black grama closely resembles blue grama, but is found 

 especially on sterile hills and not usually on the rich 

 open plains. Black grama is smaller and the flags are 

 more fuzzy. 



Curly mesquite {Hilaria Belangeri Steud.) resembles 

 buffalo grass. It forms runners by which it spreads and 

 forms a close sod. The flower stalks are usually only a 

 few inches high but may be as much as a foot high. The 

 inflorescence or flowerhead is a close spike an inch or 

 two long. The spikelets are in clusters closely set along a 

 central axis. The spike or cylindric flowerhead is often 

 brownish or purplish, sometimes almost black. Gurly 

 mesquite is the dominant grass on the plains of Texas. 



VALLEYS 



In this category are placed the open valleys in which 

 forest is absent or confined to the immediate vicinity of 



