34 



prevalent. The single plants, with their long branchless stalks, growing 

 on the rocky mesas, offer a striking feature to the landscape. I have 

 seen good serviceable fences made with the prickly stems of these plants. 



The Nolina (Hickory grass) I saw but sparingly near Devil's Eiver, 

 becoming very abundant farther west. I saw wooden and adobe build- 

 ings with the roofs thatched with the long, tough leaves of this plant. 

 The leaves are bound with thoDgs of hide, and I was told that such a 

 covering would last for years, and would not leak in rainy weather. 

 One man in Juno, who had a roof thatched with this u grass," said he 

 preferred it to a shingle roof. 



From DeviFs Eiver to Flanders I saw no grasses in bloom away from 

 the creeks, except a few stray specimens of Papjpophorum cupertum and 

 on one of the divides a small patch of running mesquite-grass, Hilar ia 

 cencliroides. At Flanders, in a deep, rocky raviue by the side of a nat- 

 ural alkaline well, I found Polypogon 2Ionspeliensis, a grass that is com- 

 mon in inany places on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. On account of 

 the difficulty in getting water we concluded to change our route, so 

 from Flanders we returned to DeviFs Eiver and rode along its west side, 

 passing over the mesas and valleys. I saw the Sotol in great abun- 

 dance on the hill- sides. At the foot of one of the hills I gathered a few 

 specimens of Hilar ia mutica. This grass I have seen in large patches 

 west of the Pecos. While going through the picturesque Dead May's 

 Pass I collected some specimens of Aristida, Panicum reticulation, and 

 a few other species of grass. In one place near a creek I found a few 

 plants of the rescue-grass (Bromus unioloides); this is the most western 

 point at which I have seen it. Just before reaching Old Camp Hudson 

 we rode a short distance along the river, bordered by stately trees of 

 poplar and willow, wild china, pecan, and others. Where we camped 

 by the river, opposite the old fort, I found the grasses Paspalum dis- 

 tichum and Panicum colonum. We rode some distance up the river. At 

 one point I found some fine specimens of Elymus canadensis. Leaving 

 the river we rode northwest a few miles, and arrived at Juno post-office. 

 Here I noticed the Sotol plentiful on the hills, and by a creek running 

 through the place I found a few grasses that are partial to moist places. 



After a day at Juno we proceeded westward to Johnson's Eun. Just 

 before reaching it I noticed a small patch of Triodia albescens, and near by 

 a small patch of Hilar ia m utica. All along our way from Juno to the Pecos 

 I frequently saw small patches of the buffalo-grass, but it looked rather 

 parched. Along some of the leads, or draws, as they arecalled — branches 

 of the arroyos — I saw an occasional A ristida, Triodia acuminata, and An- 

 dropogon saccharoides. We passed Howard's Wells, where a few green 

 bunches of Hilar ia mutica presented themselves, with a few stray spec- 

 imens of CJiloris elegans. Journeying along some distance we ascended 

 a steep hill, on the top of which was a large area covered with Leehu- 

 guilla. Here I found a few specimens of Schedonnardus Texanus. We 

 rode for some hours over a lengthy plateau, our way marked byNolina 



