OHIO TUMBLEWEEDS.
John H. Schaffner.
Tumbleweeds are characteristic of wind-swept plains and dry prairies. As the forests are rapidly disappearing, the conditions in Ohio are becoming very favorable for the introduction and development of such forms of vegetation. A few species are already abundant and some like Amaranthus graecizans appear to flourish better than on the prairies of the interior. The past summer a number of cornfields about Columbus were covered with very large tumbleweeds and during the winter a number of hedgerows were filled with them, presenting an appearance quite as striking as anything the writer has seen along this line.
The following is a list of the Ohio plants which may develop as tumbleweeds. Those with a question mark have not been seen by the writer to act as tumbleweeds and a few are given on the authority of Dr. W. J. Beal.
ANNUAL TUMBLEWEEDS.
1. Cycloloma atriplicifolium (Spreng.) Coult.2. Salsola tragus L.3. Amaranthus graecizans L.4. Lepidium apetalum Willd. Beal.5. Trifolium procumbens L. Beal.6. Onagra biennis (L.) Scop. Beal.
TUMBLE-GRASSES.
7. Panicum capillare L.8. Panicum flexile (Gattg.) Scrib.9. Eragrostis pectinacea (Mx.) Steudl.10. Eragrostis trichodes (Nutt.) Nash.11. Eragrostis capillaris (L.) Nees. ?12. Eragrostis frankii Steud. ?13. Eragrostis purshii Schrad. ?14. Agrostis hyemalis (Walt.) B. S. P.
PERENNIAL TUMBLEWEEDS.
15. Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R. Br.