1871 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
261 
The Buffalo Grass. 
Our largest quadruped subsists mainly upon 
one of the smallest of our grasses. Viewed as a 
single specimen, the Buffalo-grass appears a 
most insignificant plant. Yet upon it the im- 
' Buffalo GRASS. —(BucTdoe dactyloides, 
mense herds of buffalo depend for sustenance) 
and so, indirectly,do numerous tribes of Indians. 
The Buffalo-grass extends from the British Pos¬ 
sessions, through a broad range of country, 
southward to Texas, covering immense tracts 
with a turf composed of its strong interlaced 
roots, and its very narrow leaves, which, except 
in the growing season, are curled and twisted 
into a closely matted mass. Mr. T. L. Rankin, 
of Osage Co., Has., the gentleman who, last 
winter, introduced buffalo-beef into the markets 
of the Eastern cities, recently brought us a spec¬ 
imen of the turf, and we thought that some ac¬ 
count of the grass itself might be of interest. 
We give an engraving of the plant of its natur¬ 
al size. It is not very nearly related to any 
grass with which our readers are likely to be 
familiar, and it gives us an instance of what is 
very rare, a dicecious grass, that is, one in which 
the staminate and pistillate flowers are borne 
by separate plants. Buffalo-grass was described 
some fifty years ago by Nuttall, who called it a 
Sesleria , but was doubtful about its being prop¬ 
erty determined, as he had never seen the seeds. 
For many years our botanists were on the look¬ 
out for specimens of the Buffalo-grass with ripe 
seeds, but none came. It was supposed that a 
plant which multiplied itself so rapidly by run¬ 
ners, had no need to be at the trouble to prop¬ 
agate itself by seed, and consequently the flow¬ 
ers were abortive. Only a few years ago, the 
acute Doct. Engehnann, of St. Louis, Mo., 'a 
examining a collection of plants, made upon 
an exploring expedition by his brother, found 
the clue to the whole puzzle. He determined 
to the surprise of all botanists, that the grass was 
dioecious. The pistillate plant is so unlike the 
staminate in its 
general appear¬ 
ance, that no one 
would suspect 
their relationship. 
Indeed, so dissimi¬ 
lar are they that 
the pistillate plant 
had long ago been 
described by an 
European botanist 
as a species of an¬ 
other and widely 
separated genus. 
Doct. Engelmann 
was so fortunate 
as to discover an 
abnormal speci¬ 
men in which sta¬ 
minate and pistil¬ 
late flowers hap¬ 
pened to be grow¬ 
ing upon the same 
plant, and thus the 
matter was estab¬ 
lished beyond a 
doubt. Numerous 
collectors had 
brought in the sta¬ 
minate and the pis¬ 
tillate plants, with- 
outsuspecting that 
/ they were in any 
0 way related, much 
less that they were 
man and wife, but 
Mr. Engelmann 
was the first one 
fortunate enough, 
or shrewd enough 
to collect them to-> 
gether. The en¬ 
graving shows a pistillate plant, and a detatclied 
flowering stem of a staminate one. It is not 
necessary to go into a botanical description. It 
will be seen at a glance that the two kinds of 
flowers are as unlike as are tire tassel of Indian 
corn and its ripened ear. -The pistillate flow¬ 
ers of the Buffalo-grass are surrounded by a 
leafy covering, or involucre, which, as the seed 
ripens, becomes very hard, even bony and shin¬ 
ing. The engraving, modified from Doct. Eu- 
gelmann’s figure, shows the abundant provision 
for the spread of this plant by means of “ run¬ 
ners.” The turf formed by the Buffalo-grass is 
so very compact, and endures drouth so well, 
that were it not for its unpleasant, grayish color, 
it would be worth while to experiment as to its 
availability as a lawn grass. There Avas, a few* 
years ago, a small bed of it at Shaw’s garden at 
St. Louis, which seemed to be well established. 
root, from which arises a tuft of finely-cut 
leaves; these, when young, are very downy. 
The large purple flowers are borne singly upon 
stems three to eight inches high ; they consist 
of six petal-like sepals, which are violet-purple 
within, and very silky outside. The stem-leaves 
FASQUE flower .—( Anemone Pulsatilla.) 
are three, placed in a whorl just below the 
flowers. The Pasque-flower remains in bloom 
for many days, keeping wholly or partly closed 
in dull weather, and only fully opening in the 
sunshine. The plant has a very sturdy, vigor¬ 
ous look, and appears quite unlike its near rel¬ 
ative, the delicate Wind-flower of our Avoods — 
Anemone nemorosa. We have, liorvever, in Il¬ 
linois and Avestward an Anemone that very 
much resembles the European Pasque-floAver, 
and is called the Wild Pasque-flower. It is the 
Anemone patens , var. Nuttalliana. It differs 
from the European species in cutting of its 
leaves, which appear later than the flower. 
The Basque Blower. —(Anemone Pulsatilla,) 
Tire Pasque-flower, or Pasque Anemone—so- 
called because it blooms about Easter—is com¬ 
mon in England and other parts of Europe. 
With us it is rarely seen in cultivation; yet 
there is no plant in our very large border 
Avhose early bloom avc greet with more pleasure 
than avc do that of this very old-fashioned 
flower. It has a very long and thick Avoody 
Notes from the Pines. 
A Silvek-gra.y Edging. —Last year Arte¬ 
misia Stelleriana (not A. stcllaris , as some cata¬ 
logues have it), was sent out as a new “ foliage 
plant.” - I had enough to encircle a bed of Co¬ 
leus, and the effect was quite satisfactory. The 
plant bears cutting admirably, and while its 
leaves have not the delicacy of Centaurea gym- 
nocarpa , they are sufficiently small not to ap¬ 
pear coarse. In the fall clearing up, this bed 
escaped, and, much to my surprise, the Arte¬ 
misia very early this spring, began to push buds 
from the old stems. It proved perfectly hardy, 
and with the proper trimming, the edging is 
