26 



BULLETIN 201, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FESTUCA OVINA INGRATA Hack. 



Throughout the entire Rocky Mountain region, from the San Francisco highlands 

 in Arizona northward, there are large numbers of closely related forms of fescue, of 

 which Festuca ovina ingrata may be considered economically typical. In the southern- 

 most portion of this highland region they grow at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. Far- 

 ther north they come down to the 4,000-foot level a nd may spread out to the adjoining 

 bare foothills and mesas. They are characteristic grasses of bare hills and mountain 

 sides, where they often grow to the exclusion of practically everything else. They 

 constitute an exceedingly important group of native forage plants which will stand 

 trampling by stock very well, although they have been killed in many sections by 

 excessive stocking. Some very closely related forms are now in cultivation, and 

 it would doubtless be a comparatively easy matter to domesticate some of the forms 

 whose seed habits are just as good as those now under cultivation. They are all 

 popularly known as sheep fescue. (PL VII, fig. 1.) 



No. 8848 was collected at Summit, Mont., August 15, 1907. The seed of the sample 

 was in the dough. It was cut close to the ground. 





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. S848 



5.11 



4.89 

 7.72 



3.13 

 1.04 



34.33 

 37.30 



52.12 

 49.19 



5.53 



4.75 



26.68 

















6.30 



2.09 



35.81 



50.66 



5.14 











1 Washington Bui. 82, p. 11. 

 HETEROPOGON CONTORTUS Beauv. 



Heteropogon contortus, a beard-grass with long, twisted, dark-brown to black awns, 

 is very characteristic of the native grass flora of many situations from central Texas 

 to Arizona and southward into Mexico. It produces a quality of feed very similar to 

 that of some of the larger species of Andropogon. On the whole, it is probably not 

 grazed so extensively as those species. Some sheep growers in southern Texas espe- 

 cially deplore its presence on account of the injury which the awns do in working 

 into the fleece and flesh of their flocks. Anyone who has walked through a patch of 

 this grass when mature will readily recognize the injury that it may do to sheep. 

 However, cattle in southern Arizona graze it to the ground very frequently. In some 

 situations, in the sandy arid mountains, it grows thick over small areas, but usually 

 it is distinctively a bunch grass, growing only in scattered bunches among other 

 vegetation. 



No. 8397 was collected at Green, Tex., August 14, 1906. The plants were in early 

 maturity and were cut about 3 inches above the ground. Many of the lower culm 

 leaves were dead. No. 9589 was collected in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains, 

 Ariz., September 16, 1908. The sample was duplicated on account of the viscid, 

 sweet, gummy secretion which appeared upon the inflorescence of the plants. This 

 is a very common phenomenon in this section. 





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. 8397 



9.06 

 1.73 



7.44 

 4.58 



1.34 

 1.54 



34.47 

 32.10 



51.93 

 57.65 



4.82 

 4.13 



27.46 





24.00 









5.40 



6.01 



1.44 



33.28 



54.79 



4.48 



25.73 







