12 
SOME COLORADO GRASSES. 
Faithful experiment is needed to determine the agri¬ 
cultural value of all the species collected, both with irri¬ 
gation and on the dry plains, where the kinds will he 
sustained by the limited rainfall alone. 
The following is a list of the kinds of grasses and 
forage plants and the quantities of seeds secured. The 
difficulties and labor attending the collecting of seeds in 
quantities of some of the native grasses can be appreciated 
only by those who have made the attempt. The more 
rare species are to be had only in the most limited quan¬ 
tities, and even this is affected by the character of the 
season, in regard to rainfall and the number of stock on 
the ranges to be worked over. The past four seasons 
have been disastrous to the ranges west of the Medicine 
Bow, owing to lack of rain or sufficient snow. As 
a result, grasses are scant, except in places difficult of 
access, and the number of stock of all kinds effectually 
prevents their seeding : 
POA L^VIS (Vasey). 
Stems wiry, geniculate at base; leaves linear to 
filiform, scabrous, striate above, pubescent below; ligule 
elongated, lacerate; panicle diffuse, 4 to 8 inches long, 
branches capillary, in 3s or 5s, finely scabrous; spikelets 
small, appressed, three to five-flowered ; outer glumes very 
unequal, the upper three-nerved at base; flowering glume 
rounded on the back, obscurely five-nerved, somewhat 
webby below the middle, and with broadly scarious apex ; 
palet shorter than the glume, acute or truncate. 
This grass grows in stout tufts in wet meadows, on 
the plains and in the mountains, and while stock eat it 
with avidity, it must be considered as having but little 
agricultural value. 
