The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-12
is NOT The COCKSPUR
WEED IN PARK EXTENSION BE-
LONGS TO FAMILY OF GRASSES.
HEDGEHOG OR BURR GRASS
IS NAME GIVEN FOR PLANT BY
RECOGNIZED BOTANISTS.

Growth and Is Used in Some Sec
tIOns a Lawn Beautifer.
The "cockspur, the obnoxious thing
in the Park Extension, over VIII CHI there
| has been so much controversy. and
which a score of boys is trying to get
rid of. is not the cockspur. according
to botanists. but is what is known as
the hedgehog or burr grass.
The cockspur is a thicket growth
and generally reaches a hight
of four or five feet, while
that which has furnished en-
pleyment for the boys in the Extension
grows only about a foot in hight and
even less. Asa Gray, the famous bota-
mist, classes the plant as above, max
ing it one of the grasses. The follow
ing is what he has to say of it:
The hedgehog or burr grass, a mem
Der of the grass or Gramineae class:
order, Cenchrus; and species, Tribu-
loides. An annual plant. culms are
branched and ascending, one foot or
less in hight, leaves fiat, spike oblong
of eight to twenty spherical heads;
involucres prickly all over with spread
ing and barked short spines more or
less downy, including two or three
spikelets. Found on sandy soils, riv-
er banks, ETC., and natures in Au-
gust. A vile weed"
The Plant Analysed.
A careful analysis of the plant caus-
ing the trouble in the park shows that
| it pOrraSpopds II, .1,or,r - u4;~,,I... ..-;4,.
the description of the burr grass by
Gray and leaves no doubt as to its
identity. Though there is at first no
appearance of a downy or hairy COW
erlng of the little spurs, yet when
placed under the microscope the down
is plainly evident
| An examination of several of the
| specimens from the Park Extension
shows that before reaching maturity
! the spurs are enclosed in a grassy
! sheath and at that stage are soft and
ylelolng' having no appearance of the
| Stfong spikes which later deVelope The
! appearance is somewhat like that of
| rye or wheat that has not rpened.
! Later In the season the sheath breaks
| ana displays small flower and when
TINS has lived its time, the burr hard
ems and the trouble commences, The
purr makes its appearance in August.
ana gradually hardens until it reaches
! the stage IN which it now is found.
Belongs to Seed Plant Class.
Botanists class plants also from the
| Ll@nller IN winch they reproduce them
| serves. II they spring from their own
roots they are known as root plants.
ana II from the seed as seed plants
| Inc burr-grass may be root plant
the analysis thus far not showing that
TACT, but 1t is certainly seed plant.
/ I,
! producing of the plant that the burrs
| play their part.
After the flower of the grass has died
| the seed ripens and becomes ready for
planting. 1t is necessary that it be car
rled from place to place. and this is
] done by means of the burrs. When
any person or object brushes against
! the plant, the burrs cling to it and are
thus carried from one place to an
other. When picked from the person
and thrown to the ground they imme-
| diately cling there, and in time are COW
! cred over with earth and take root
In the spring they appear again and
| ripen by August, and the spreading
| process is carried on indefinitely The
! plant illustrates one of the ways in
which Nature cares for the spreading
of the various species.
| Pfcking's Effectiveness Doubted.
AS to a remedy none has yet been
i suggested. II the plant is a SEED plant
| only, the picking of the burrs might
work toward decreasing their numbers,
though it is impossible to eradicate
them thoroughly in that manner Some
burrs would be sure to be missed, some
would be dropped in moving the little
piles gathered by the boys from one
place to another and others would be
| carried about by dogs, cts,
that run through the park.
This would mean that there
is sure to be another growth next year
Then there is the possibility and, in
fact, the proba bility, that the burr
grass is also root plant, and in this
case the picking of the burrs will not
do the slightest good.
A well-known Savannahian said yes
terday that the burr grass had made it's
! appearance in his yard and he had tried
various scheme to eradicate it. All
were unsuccessful, however, until the
plants were taken from the ground,
roots and all. After that had been
done, they did not make reappear-
| ance. This would seem to show that
the grass is a root plant and that the
! roots must be killed in order to rid the
| park of it.
What the True COckspur Is.
The true cockspur is a variety of
hawthorn, and Gray gives it's common
| name as the cockspur thorn or cock
spur and it's botanical name as the
Crataegus Crus-galli. The plant grows
| in thickets and attains a hight
! of four or five feet It's
| branches are horizontal and slen-
| der and these are covered with
! slender thorns, sometimes reaching a
| length of four inches. The thorns re-
semble the spurs on a game cock and
| it is from this marked similarity that
the plant takes its name.
The leaves are thick and dark green
in color, the upper side of the leaf hav-
| ing a glossy or shiny appearance. The
/ fruit is globular and of dull reddish
! color, the average breadth of the fruit
| being about one-third of an inch. In
the more northern states the plant is
very common and is used in many
! cases as a lawn beautifier, the red flow
ers which the plant bears before the
maturing of the fruit being pretty and
! attractive. The flowers die and the
/ fruit makes it's appearance during the
/ months of September and October.
| Several Savannahians who are
versed in botany and who have made
/ a study of the burrgrass since
| the unusual attention has been
attracted to it within the last
! few days. are inclined to be-
lieve that the present method of
| treatment is useless and that the OBJ
| noxious weed will appear next year
! in as great profusion as at present
! They are investigating the subject 10
! greater extent in the hope that some
/ method OF treatment may be given
/ by some OF the botanists who are rec