46 FOKAGE CONDITIONS ON NORTHERN BORDER OF GREAT BASIN. 



Beckwith clover (Trifolium beckwithii). — This is a larger, more rigid, and coarser 

 plant in every way than either of the two previously mentioned. We found , it at 

 higher elevations than the others, usually in mountain valleys and meadows, along 

 streams, and near springs. It was most abundant in portions of Silvies Valley. It 

 is valuable mainly as a native pasture plant. 



Oregon clover (Trifolium oreganum, No. 601). — A valuable mountain pasture 

 plant. It is very common in mountains, where it often forms, with tufted hair grass 

 (Deschampsia caespitosa) and Sandberg's blue grass (Poa sandbergii), a very respecta- 

 ble covering over the ground in small depressions and along banks of streams, and is 

 always closely cropped in such situations. 



Shield clover (Trifolium cyathiferum). — A common and occasionally abundant 

 species forming much pasture along streams and moist localities. It is easily recog- 

 nized by the large shield-like bracts below the heads of flowers. 



THE SEDGES AND RUSHES. 



When quantity alone is considered this group of plants is the most 

 important of any in the region. Two or three species of sedges or 

 rushes often take possession of large areas of the low, poorly drained, 

 swampy basins and river bottoms. Although the quantity of feed 

 from this source is large, the quality is ordinarily much inferior to 

 that derived from the true grasses and clovers, and in some cases it 

 is questionable whether the forage furnished by many of these plants is 

 worth the cutting. Usually, however, the feed derived from the sedges 

 (Carex sp.) is of very good quality, but on the whole rather light in 

 weight. 



Wire grass (Juncus balticus). — Every rancher knows this tough, wiry, leafless 

 plant, which is almost invariably found in greater or less quantity in the lowland 

 hay meadows. It is therefore very extensively cut for hay along with other forage 

 plants, but it furnishes a very poor quality of feed. 



Nevada rush (Juncus nevadensis) . — This species often furnishes some pasture and 

 a little hay along the edges of moist bottoms. 



Toad rush (Juncus bufonius). — A low-spreading, much-branched plant growing in 

 edges of ponds and very wet places. It is often pastured where better feed is scarce. 



Creeping spike rush (Eleocharis palustris). — This is also often referred to as wire 

 grass. It is very abundant on all of the lower meadows, and, like the wire grass, is 

 often cut for hay. It is neither so harsh nor so rigid as the latter. Nowhere on the 

 trip were such areas of it encountered as on the Malheur Lake bottoms, where much 

 of it was cut along with other crops. 



Awned cyperus ( Cyperus aristatus) . — This is quite abundant on sandy banks of the 

 tributaries of the Malheur River, where it furnishes some pasture, but never any hay. 



Red-rooted cyperus (Cyperus erythrorhizos) . — This is often found in hay in con- 

 siderable quantities on the low, wet, nonalkaline meadows along streams in south- 

 eastern Oregon. 



Tule (Scirpus lacustris). — This is the most conspicuous plant on the bottoms. 

 It often grows to a height of 15 feet, and the culms are often ihree-fourths of an 

 inch in diameter. PL XV, fig. 2, shows this plant as it grows over very exten- 

 sive areas on the Malheur Lake bottoms. In the more moist areas it is used 

 simply as a browse and shelter for cattle during storms, but in the edges of the 

 lower areas, where it grows to a height of 1 to 4 feet, much of it is cut with other hay, 

 crops, with which it is mixed. The quantity of feed from this source is probably 



