1116 General Notes. 
twelve to fifteen feet. It is a curious fact that all over the plains 
there is a tradition that the sunflower was introduced by the Mor- 
mons, who scattered its seeds by their trails, in order to enable the 
faithful who came later to follow their tracks. It is scarcely neces- 
sary to say that this is an error. The sunflower doubtless sprang 
up in abundance along the Mormon trail, and marked it, but so it 
did along every trail where the sod had been broken enough to give 
the plants a better opportunity for growth. : 
Squirrel-tail grass, as it is called in the books, and in classes in 
botany, or “Tickle grass,” as known to the farmers (Hordeum 
jubatum L. of the botanists), is one of the most abundant of the 
weedy grasses of the plains. It appears to have originally grown 
along the sandy margins of rivers, and upon the bare ground about 
ponds and salt springs, from whence it has spread rapidly to road 
sides and fields since the advent of white men. It is not naturally 
one of the prairie grasses proper. In fact, as it is an annual, it 
cannot compete successfully with the strong-rooted perennial grasses 
until the latter have been partially displaced by the breaking of 
the sod; but when once it obtains a foothold it spreads with great 
rapidity. he jointed rhachis of the head breaks readily into short 
pieces, each of which bears a few flowers with their widely spread- 
ing barbed arrows. Each fragment has a most persistent creeping 
power, which enables it to work its way through heavy clothing, 
and the densest of hair or wool. In this way the grains are carri 
by man and animals for long distances, and when finally the arrows 
are broken up, and the barbs come out, the seeds are dropped upon . 
the ground, ready to start up in early spring. 
Tumble-weeds abound everywhere now, but I am confident that 
they are likewise dependent for their present abundance upon man's 
agency in breaking the original sod. The most common tumble- 
weed is Amarantus albus L., well known throughout the prairies 
and plains. Wherever a settler has broken up a tract of land these 
plants appear in great numbers; in fact it is principally upon such 
breakings that they are to be found. In the autumn I have seen 
great tracts of from fifty to a hundred acres or more entirely covered 
with the hemispherical or almost spherical examples of these ee 
ble-weeds. With the advent of the frosts and heavy winds 0 
October and November, the stems are broken off at the ground, or 
in some cases the root.is pulled up or twisted off, setting free n 
round body, which then goes tumbling and bounding over the 
plains, scattering its seeds as it goes. Whether these tumb e- weet 
occur as depauperate plants upon the plains, intermingled with the 
grasses, I do not know, but it is certain that none occur there large 
enough to roll and tumble. The plant is not a tumble weed u 
se the opportunity of growing freely upon broken and 
sou. 
