Zea. CLXI. GRAMINE^. 62S 



lower branches divaricate and sterile, the upper spicate and fertile ; spikekls on 

 clavate pedicels ; awns long, hispid; /)•. slender, }' long, blackish, deciduous, 

 farinaceous. — % Inundated shores of ponds and rivers, U. S. and Can. The 

 fruit, which is very abundant, aflbrds sustenance to wild geese, ducks, and other 

 water fowls. Aug. 



2. Z. MiLiACEA. Michx. 



St. erect, G — lOf high; Ivx. very long, narrow, glaucous; panicle terminal, 

 large, diffuse, pyramidal; glumes viixh short awns; (^ and 9 /s. intermixed ; 

 sty. 1 ; fr. ovate, glabrous. — %. Penn. to Car., W. to Ohio, growing in water. Aug. 



3. Z.l FLUiTANs. Michx. (Hydrocochloa. Palis. Hydropyrum. Kunth.') 

 St. long, slender, branching, floating in the water ; Ivs. linear, flat ; spike 



solitary, axillary, setaceous, about 4-flowered; palece awnless; slig. 2, very 

 long ; fr. reniform. — % Can. and N. States 1 July. 



60. LEPTtJRUS. R. Br. 



Gr. XcTTTOi, slender, ovpa, tail ; ftom the long, slender, cylindrical spike. 



Plowers c? 5 9, spicate; rachis filiform, jointed, joints with one 

 spikelet ; glumes 1 or 2, rigid, connate with the rachis, simple or 

 2-parted. 



L. PANICULAT0S. Nutt. 



St. scarcely If high, compressed ; Ivs. short, rigid, sheathing the base of 

 the panicle ; panicle or naked rachis incurved, acutely triangular, rigid, bearing 

 6 — 10 compressed, subulate spikes on one side, each 1 — 2' long ; spikclets re- 

 mote, on one side the rachis ; glumes rigidly fixed, unequal, parallel ; palete 2, 

 the outer of the same texture as the glumes, inner membranaceous. — 111., Mead, 

 Mo., Nuttall. 



CI. TRIPSACUM. 



Gr. rpiffb), to grind ; application not obvious. 



t? Spikes digitate ; glumes 2, coriaceous ; palece 2, membrana- 

 ceous, c? Spikelets 2-flowered, outer flower staminate, inner neuter. 

 9 Spikelets 3-flowered, the 2 lateral flowers abortive ; outer glume 

 enclosing the flowers in a cavity of the rachis, with an aperture each 

 side at base. 



T. DACTYLolDES. Scsame Grass. 



St. slightly compressed, smooth, solid with pith, brown at the nodes, 4 — 6f 

 high ; Ivs. near an inch broad, long, lance-linear, smooth beneath, roughish 

 above ; spikes 5 — 8' long, usually 2—3 together, digitate, terminal, (^ flowers 

 above,' 9 below, without awns.— Ij. River banks and sea shores, Mid., W. and 

 S. States. A large, coarse and very singular grass. Jl. 

 /3. monostachyon. Spike single. 



62. ZEA. 



Gr. iiabi, to live ; the seeds contributing eminently to the support of life. 



§ . — (^ in terminal, paniculate racemes ; spikelets 2-flowered ; 

 glumes 2, herbaceous, obtuse, subequal ; paleae membranaceous, 

 awnless, obtuse. 9 lateral, axillary, on a spadix enclosed in a spathe 

 of numerous bracts ; spikelets 2-flowered, one flower abortive ; 

 glumes 2, very obtuse ; paleoe awnless ; style Ij filiform, very long, 

 pendulous ; caryopsis compressed. 



Z. Mays. Maize. Indian Corn. 



Rt. fibrous ; st. erect, 5— lOf (in some varieties 15— 20f) high, channeled 

 on one side, lealy; Ivs. lance-linear, entire, 2— 3f long.— ® The varieties of 

 this noble plant are numerous, produced by climate and culture. It is a native 

 of the warm latitudes of America, but how widely it has been cultivated on 

 both continents, and how important it is to yian, it is unnecessary here to 

 state. Jl. (\ 



53 



