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ADDENDUM. 
So much interest is now felt in the matter of new varieties of grasses, 
especially by the Western experiment stations, that it is thought best 
to add descriptions and figures of some additional species which have | 
been recommended for trial. 
The Colorado experiment station, aided by this Department, gave 
especial attention last summer to the collection of seeds of the native 
grasses of that region, and some fifty kinds were selected, and will be 
subjected to cultivation on the arid land of that section. 
Other western stations will take up the same line of work in the 
future. The illustrations given are especially valuable for the identifi- 
cation of the various species by students or by any persons who are in- 
terested in the subject. 
Panicum gibbum. 
A perennial species, growing in swamps and low, wet ground in the Southern 
States from North Carolina to Florida. Thestem is decumbent, branching and root- 
ing at the lower joints. The panicle is 3 to 5 inches long, and narrow, the branches 
being appressed. The leaves are smooth or smoothish, half an inch broad, and 6 to 8 
inches long. The whole grass is of a deep green color. The flowers drop off soon — 
after flowering. The grass, if it occurs in abundance, would be of considerable vale 
as it furnishes a good deal of nutritious matter. 
Mr. J. H. Simpson, of Manatee, Fla., writes as follows: 
This most valuable grass seems to have been entirely overlooked as far as its quali- 
ties for hay and pasturage are concerned. It is perfectly at home in any situation. 
It usually grows in wet places, with culms 2 or 3 feet high. The late J. N. Harris © 
informed me that he believed that from 3 to 5 tons of most excellent hay could be 
cut per acre, and that it was an excellent pasture grass. He had experimented with 
it for years. ; 
(Plate 103.) 
Muhlenbergia comata. 
This species .is closely related to M. glomerata. It grows throughout the Rocky 
Mountain region in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and California, usually on the 
sandy and alluvial banks of streams. It grows in tufts from firm, creeping root 
stocks. The culms are erect, 2 to 3 feet high, and leafy below. The panicle is 2 to . 
4 inches long, narrow and close, sometimes interrupted below, generally of a dark 
lead-color, and of soft texture. The outer glumes are very narrow and acute, and 
the flowering glume is surrounded at the base by a copious tuft of silky hairs. The 
slender awn of the flowering glame is three or four times its length. 
(Plate 104.) 
Sporobolus heterolepis (Ganch Grass ; Wire Grass). 
This is called bunch grass and wire grass from the AWE long, 
wiry leaves and stems. I found it a considerable element in the prairies 
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