NATIVE PASTUBE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



33 



shrubbery, cat's-claw, hackberry, mesquite, etc., where it remains unmolested by 

 stork as long as other feeds are available with less annoyance from the shrubby spiny 

 protectors. In the Organ Mountains of New Mexico it grows in clumps of shrubbery 

 also, but more often in the open. 



Eight or nine years ago, when a large tract of range land was fenced by the United 

 Stal es Department of Agriculture in the northwestern foothills of the Santa Rita Moun- 

 tains in southern Arizona, this grass was nowhere conspicuous. It was invariably 

 closely cropped except where it was impossible for stock to get at it. Now tangled 

 clumps 3 feet high and 6 or 8 feet in diameter are not uncommon, generally produced 

 since the field was inclosed. In times past it was a common thing for the Mexican 

 people to cut large quantities of this grass in the upper foothills along the Mexican 

 border, packing it to villages and mining camps on burros. 



The species is in reality a shrub. It makes a growth approximately equal each year 

 to some of the other grasses, but instead of dying to the ground each winter, only the 

 leaves, flowers, and smaller branches die, the older hardened culms remaining alive. 

 In time, therefore, a tangled mass, such as that described above, representing portions 

 of the growths of several years, is formed. Although several years old the stems are 

 not so woody as one might expect. Indeed, they are not so woody but that cattle will 

 eat them even if they are 3 or 4 years old. It can be easily imagined how fond stock 

 are of these green clumps in winter when other vegetation is dead and dried up. 



No. 8940 was collected in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains, Ariz., Septem- 

 ber 23, 1907. The sample represents the nearly mature plant of the current year's 

 development. This season's growth, about 10 to 12 inches, was taken with very little 

 of the older culms. Its percentage of moisture was 5.76. Other constituents (on a water- 

 free basis) were as follows: Ash, 6.53; ether extract, 2.28; crude fiber, 35.63; nitrogen- 

 free extract, 49.59; protein, 5.97; pentosans, 26.25. 



MUHLENBERGIA WRIGHTII Vasey. 



Muhlenbergia urightii grows in large bunches upon the second bottoms of mountain 

 streams and dry washes of northern Arizona. Its affinities are with Sporobolus brevi- 

 folius. The leaves are a little more abundant, and the plant throughout is less wiry 

 than that species. In this region it adds considerable to the pasturage, since it is 

 resorted to by stock and readily grazed when more palatable feeds fail. 



No. 9554 was collected at Prescott, Ariz., September 7, 1908. Its percentage of 

 moisture was 6.58. Other constituents (on a water- free basis) were as follows: Ash, 

 8.39; ether extract, 1.91; crude fiber, 32.14; nitrogen-free extract, 50.50; protein, 

 7.06; pentosans, 27.39. 



PANICULARIA GRANDIS (Wats.) Nash. 



Panicularia grandis is a soft, spongy stemmed, sprangle-topped reed-grass, inhabit- 

 ing low, moist, alluvial grounds in the edges of swamps and streams from Labrador to 

 California. It never grows abundant enough to be of any great economic importance, 

 but furnishes very acceptable grazing wherever it occurs. Usually it is more or less 

 pure in small patches, but it may also be found scattered among sedges, rushes, and 

 other water-loving plants. 



No. 8795 was collected at Fargo, N. Dak., August 8, 1907. The sample was cut 

 close to the ground when in late fruit. 





Percent- 

 age of 

 moisture. 



Water-free basis (per cent). 



Material analyzed. 



Ash. 



Ether 



extract. 



Crude 

 fiber. 



Nitrogen- 

 free 

 extract. 



Protein. 



Pento- 

 sans. 



Our sample No. 8795 



7.19 



17.31 

 9.48 



2.22 

 1.74 



26.71 

 33.39 



43.38 

 45.42 



10.38 

 9.97 



17.79 

















10.78 



1.82 



32.28 



45.08 



10.04 











i South Dakota Bui. 40, p. 134. Wyoming: Bui. 70, p. 35; Bui. 87, p. 64, 

 82080°— Bull. 201—15 3 



