Oryza GRAMINEAE Zizania 



fr. IX. Cultivated in all warm countries with sufficient moisture; locally in An., 

 Che., Ki., Ku. Flooded fields or dry ground. Fig. 434. 



53. Leersia Sw. HH^M (Shao K'ang Ts'ao Shu; Sheath-grass Genus) 

 Aquatic or swamp-loving perennials with creeping rhizomes and terminal panicles; 

 spikelets 1-fld., without sterile lemmas attached below, strongly laterally compressed: 

 glumes none: lemmas awnless, 5-nerved, the lateral nerves close to the margins and 

 firmly clasping those of the similar palea. About 15 species, in tropical and temperate 

 zones; 3 in China. (After Johann Daniel Leers, a German botanist of the 18th 

 century.) 



Key to the Species 



Panicle subsimple: spikelets 4-6 mm. long: stamens 6; the anthers 2-3 mm. 



long 1 . L. japonica 



Panicle compound: spikelets 5-8 mm. long: stamens 2-3; the anthers 1-2 mm. 



] on g 2 . L. hackelii 



1. Leersia japonica Mak. (Mak.F.874). Culms 20-60 cm. high; fls. and frs. VI-X. 

 Eastern Asia; locally in Che., Ku. Ponds and marshes. 



2. Leersia hackelii Keng (L. oryzoides (L.) Sw. var. japonica Hack.) (Mak.F.874). 

 Culms 30-90 cm. high. Southeastern China and Japan; locally in Che. Under 

 woods or by ponds. 



54. Chikusichloa Koidz. WM^-M (Shan Chien Ts'ao Shu) 

 Aquatic perennials with terminal open panicles: spikelets 1-fld., subterete, the 

 pedicel elongate, jointed about the middle, disarticulating, the upper part scabrous, 

 falling attached to the spikelet; glumes wanting; lemma strongly 5-7-nerved, acuminate 

 or tapering into a slender awn. Two species, both found in China. (Name composed 

 of the Japanese chikusi, and the Greek chloa grass.) 



1. Chikusichloa aquatica Koidz. \l\M~W- (Shan Chien Ts'ao; Mountain-torrent Grass) 

 (Bo.Ma.T. 39:23). Culms 80-150 cm. high; fls. VII; fr. VIII. Southeastern China 

 and Japan; locally in Ku. Sandy stream sides. 



Tribe X. Zizanieae MM (Ku Ts'u) 

 Closely related to Oryzeae, but differing in the unisexual spikelets which have 

 only a terminal floret; the two lateral florets and glumes being entirely suppressed: 

 aquatic perennials or annuals, with pistillate and staminate spikelets in the same 

 panicle or in different panicles. 



A single genus in our flora 55 . Zizania 



55. Zizania Linn. Wild Rice MM (Ku Shu) 

 Tall aquatic perennials (ours) with stout creeping rhizomes and large terminal 

 monoecious panicles: spikelets 1-fld.; the pistillate terete, borne on the appressed 

 upper brs.; the staminate somewhat laterally compressed, borne on the expanded or 

 erect lower brs. of the same infl.: glumes wanting; lemma 5-nerved, chartaceous, 

 or in the staminate membranaceous, tapering into a slender awn in the pistillate. 

 Three species, in the northern hemisphere; one in China. (Greek: zizanion, the 

 ancient name of a wild grain.) 



466 



