PTERIDOPEYTES 



Equis etun spp . The Scouring Pushes are not so common in the 

 Southwest as they are in the more humid parts of the United States. •' 

 They, however, are not infrequent in swampy places along mountain 

 streams. The root system makes of these plants an ideal soil binder 

 but there are many other plants which arc less moisture-loving 

 which arc to be preferred. These scouring rushes must be considered 

 weeds. They are frequently reported as causing internal disturbances 

 in stock and for this reason are listed among the poisonous plants. 

 The scouring rush is indelibly associated with childhood. Yihat 

 little girl has not woven curls, brace 1' ts and crowns of the jointed 

 stems of the scouring rush? 



I'larsilea vostita, Fern Clover, is only mentioned here because 

 of its striking appearance during certain seasons. Since it is 

 certain to attract attention it is well to note some things about it. 

 During the summer of 1937, following the rains which made numerous 

 shallow lakes in certain parts of eastern ITew Mexico, this plant came 

 in abundance and when the lakes dried up the entire lake beds were 

 covered by a solid green carpet of this little fern ally, tinny 

 people without examining it carefully take it to be a clover. Others 

 think it is an Oxalis. A slight examination, however, reveals at the 

 base of the plants little brown nut-like structures, slightly smaller 

 than peas. These are the fruiting bodies and contain the spores. 

 This plant has been rather persistently reported to be poisonous to 

 sheen. This report, however, has not been definitely verified. 



TYT'EACEAE 



Typha latifolia, the common Cattail, has an extremely wide 

 distribution. In our range it is found almost every place where 

 there is adequate swampy land. As it grows only in situations 

 where the water is still, it has little value as an erosion control 

 plant. The fresh shoots are occasionally used for food, especially 

 by the Indians. The tops arc not browsed by stock. 



* Ephedra sinica . Among our most successful exotics is the 

 Ephedra., which is the source of the drug Ephcdrine. Under cultiva- 

 tion it grows rapidly and produces fruits in great abundance. 

 Plants established at Fresnal and Continental, Arizona, withstand 

 the drought well, growing without irrigation. They have not, how- 

 ever, up to the present, escaped and run wild, the final test of a 

 good exotic for desert conditions. Seedlings planted on the rifle 

 range Trent of Tucson under strictly desert conditions but with the 

 advantage of contouring, seem, to be living through the very dry 

 pi .. r t o £ th c c.c a s on • 



