20 BULLETIN 545, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of the herbage goes to waste. In addition, the plant begins to grow 
early in the spring and does not ripen until late in the fall, so that it 
remains fresh and palatable throughout the season. Though it with- 
stands trampling well, natural regeneration on protected ranges is 
scant as compared with that of other species whose seed crop has about 
the same or even lower viability. 
Mountain June Grass. 
(Koeleria cristata.) 
Koeleria, though a genus of only about 15 species, has wide geo- 
graphical distribution. In the United States mountain June grass is 
the only representative of common occurrence and much economic 
value. 
Mountain June grass is a tufted perennial species, 1 to 2 feet hi 
height, the culms of which are usually pubescent just below the 
panicle. The leaves, which are mainly basal (Plate XY), are unu- 
sually numerous. They are flat or slightly inwardly rolled, vary in 
texture from smooth to rough, and are often hairy. The panicle, 
pale green in color, is spikelike when young, but during fertilization 
is rather widely expanded. The lemmas or flowering glumes are 
glossy, and the plant can nearly always be recognized off hand by the 
shiny character of the panicle. 
This plant often inhabits very dry situations, though on the lower 
ranges it matures comparatively early and so largely avoids the driest 
part of the season. In the higher altitudes moisture is usually present 
a few inches below the surface. Most of the plants tested wilted strik- 
ingly, usually beyond recovery in a soil having from 10 to 13.5 per 
cent water content. Thus the soil-moisture requirements hi the par- 
ticular soil type in which it grows are about the average. 
The flower stalks on the upland ranges were put forth in 1907 be- 
tween July 10 and 28; in 1908 between July 10 and 25; and in 1909 
between July 5 and 25. The seeds begin to ripen about the latter 
part of the second week in August, but the entire crop is not matured 
until about September 10. 
The germinative power of the seed is low. In 1907 an average of 
three tests gave 16 per cent and hi 1908 1-1 per cent. Xo test was 
made in 1909. However, on the lower areas in the Transition zone, 
for example, the seed was somewhat more viable, though there was 
no marked contrast in the germinative power. 
Mountain June grass is of considerable importance as a forage plant 
in the region studied, and few species are more eagerly eaten. The 
long, soft, and numerous crowded basal leaves are consumed by sheep, 
cattle, and horses in preference to many more abundant forage plants 
when green, and, like mountain bunch grass, the leaf blades but not 
the flower stalks are eaten by sheep after the seeds have reached ma- 
