_Phragmites communis_, the so called “Cane”, is common in the glades and sloughs; and, though large and rather dry, it furnishes the only verdure obtainable for months in severe seasons. Much of the hay and pasturage of the country, which is there called grass, consists of plants of different families. Notable among these are several species of _Carex_ (sedges), particularly _Carex Jamesii_, which springs up wherever artificial meadows are made by the system of flooding commonly practiced. The plants have large, strong, subterranean root-stocks, forming a tangled mass which, when once established, cannot easily be eradicated. The leaves are broad and grasslike, and, though coarse and comparatively insipid, form a good sward which can be mowed--a rare condition in that country; and hence such meadows are highly prized. _Juncus Balticus_, var. _montanus_, which has a blue color, terete culms, and tough fiber, and which the settlers call “Wire grass”, is very abundant. It is cut for hay, and is said to serve a good purpose as such. There are some shrubs that furnish excellent browsing, among which, perhaps, the grease wood takes the first rank. The sage brush, _Artemisia_, on the contrary, is seldom resorted to. There is one shrub to which great virtues are ascribed which may be mentioned in this connection. This is the _Cercocarpus parvifolius_, which occupies the mountain sides for a wide zone of altitude. The foliage, though not strictly evergreen, remains most of the winter, and is said to afford the only food for horses and cattle that can be obtained during some seasons of deep snows. This shrub is a congener of the well known mountain mahogany, _C. ledifolius_, which grows at higher altitudes, and has truly evergreen foliage. The small perennial plant _Eurotia lanata_, or “White sage”, found growing in the valleys and plains, is held in high esteem as winter food for stock. The growth of grass, even on the plateaus, is often scant; on the foot hills it becomes less, and farther away from the highlands it still diminishes in quantity until absolute deserts are found. Most of the grasses seem to protect themselves from the great aridity by growing in bunches. They appear to produce proportionately a greater amount of seeds than the grasses of the Humid Region, and their nutritive qualities, especially in winter, seems to be due thereto. In general, the grasses seem to have large, strong stems, and are not so easily broken down as those of the Humid Region, and the rains and snows by which they would be so broken down are infrequent. Again, for these reasons, the grasses, standing long after they are cut by frosts, cure themselves, forming thereby a winter pasturage.