GRAMINEAE 



rare, being confined in our range to southern Arizona and northern . 

 Mexico. It is a very loosely rooted perennial grass found on dry 

 mesas and bottom lands in shallow, poor soil. The grass has a loose 

 appearance on the ground. The panicles are wide spreading and the 

 culms quite short. It is relatively poor forage and owing to the 

 loose root system, a comparatively poor soil binder. Further study 

 of this species may lead to a higher appraisal of its value for 

 erosion control. 



Iluhlenbe rgia arenacea in superficial appearance, is some- 

 thing like M. arizonica. It, however, has a loose stolonif erous 

 rhizomatous habit, the rhizomes being very close to the surface of 

 the ground. In many places it forms pure stands over small areas 

 along swales in the lower mesas of western Texas to Arizona and 

 Sonora. It is not very palatable but owing to its rhizomatous 

 character, is worth attention as an erosion control plant. 



*0ryzopsis hymenoides, Indian Rice Grass, can hardly be 

 classed with grasses of high erosion control value. The dense 

 bunches are always too much separated and scattering to do more 

 than check the flow of water slightly or retard the wind and sand. 

 Its chief value is for forage. Formerly it was much more abundant 

 than at present and covered thousands of sections from Idaho and 

 Montana through the Rocky Mountains into Mexico. In fact Hitchcock's 

 distribution map indicates that it occurs in all the western states 

 except. Oklahoma. It is found on almost all types of dry mesa soils 

 from quite heavy to very sandy. It is a familiar sight along road 

 grades where grazing has not been heavy. i<; e have experienced con- 

 siderable difficulty in getting a reasonable germination. Cutting 

 tests indicate that a high per cent of seed collected has not fil- 

 led out and germination tests at Tucson seem to show that seed must 

 be dormant for a season. At Shiprock, however, no difficulty was 

 experienced, the seed germinating as readily as most grass seeds. 



As this grass is usually so scattering that it is expensive 

 to collect and as it is one for which we have a large demand, we 

 have established a 10-acre plot at Albuquerque and a similar one 

 at Shiprock for seed increase. 



*Oryzopsis miliacea. Under irrigation at Tucson this exotic 

 Rice Grass is very vigorous, forming large dense clumps two feet 

 high or more. Under cultivation it will produce two crops of hay 

 or seed in a season. Though it has not yet been tried on the range 

 it is probably not very drought resistant and since it will not 

 withstand the winters at Shiprock, its range of usefulness is 

 probably limited. It should be tried, however, as an annual in 

 cooler climates. 



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