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6 CIRCULAR 348, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
23. SMARTWEEDS 
(Fig. 6, B) 
By some authors, including Small, the large group of smartweeds is 
divided into several genera, including Persicaria (smartweeds), 
Polygonum (knotweeds), Tracaulon (tearthumb), and Bilderdykia 
(cornbind). In this study it will be convenient to use Polygonum 
in the inclusive sense. 
Fifteen smartweeds are listed for the Southeast. One of them is 
aquatic but probably the others are all more or less useful to quail. 
Polygonum pennsylvanicum has been found frequently in quail 
stomachs. On the whole smartweeds are much more important in the 
North than in the South. They are generally smooth plants of moist 
or swampy places, with rather long leaves and clusters of heads of 
small pink or white flowers in which are borne the black or dark- 
brown seedlike fruits. 
Knotweeds and tearthumbs are of minor importance. Cornbind, 
also called wild buckwheat or black bindweed (P. convolvulus), is used 
considerably. It is a vine somewhat resembling the bindweeds of 
the morning-glory family but is unrelated to the latter and is distinct 
in its small, inconspicuous flowers and triangular seeds. 
24. BRISTLE GRASSES 
(Fig. 6, C) 
There are nine species of bristle grass, or pigeon grass (Chaetochloa), 
in the Southeast. C. lutescens and C. viridis are common in fields 
and open waste places in the Piedmont and are probably the species 
most important for quail. The genus is characterized by bushy or 
bristly spikelike inflorescences. 
25. SESBAN; DANGLEPOD 
(Fig. 6, D) 
Sesban, or danglepod (Sesban emerus), is a smooth, upright, bushy 
annual, 4 to 12 feet high, with compound leaves bearing 10 to 35 
pairs of leaflets. The flowers are usually yellowish, spotted with 
purple, and are replaced by long, flat, narrow pods, 6 to 12 inches long - 
and segmented by partitions between the seeds. The plant is 
restricted to moist soils, and quail appear partial to it in localities 
where it is abundant. As the seeds are easily harvested in quantity, 
it shows much promise of usefulness on quail preserves. 
26. SASSAFRAS 
(Fig. 7, A) 
Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras) is a common, small or medium-sized 
tree, with greenish twigs, simple or lobed leaves, and red-stemmed 
blue fruits. The latter appear to be very useful to bobwhites. 
27. WITCHGRASSES 
(Fig. 7, Band C) 
Species of the grass genus Panicum are very numerous, and Small 
lists 117 in the Southeast. Among the most abundant and most 
available to quail are P. dichotomiflorum, P. verrucosum, P. neuran- 
thum, P. anceps, and P. scoparium. The group is too heterogeneous 
to be characterized easily. The grains are generally flattish on one 
side and rounded on the other and are ordinarily more elongated and 
more pointed than the closely related paspalums. 
