Zea. CLXI. GRAMINEiE. 623 



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

 clavate pedicels ; mons long, hispid ; fr. slender, |' long, blackish, deciduous, 

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

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

 yater fowls. Aug. 



2. Z. MiLiACEA. Michx. 



St. erect, 6 — lOf high ; Ivs. very long, narrow, glaucous ; panicle terminal, 

 large, diffuse, pyramidal; gliivics^nih short awns; (J' anA 9 y?5. intermixed ; 

 sty. 1 ; fr. ovate, glabrous. — 'ij. 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; palecu awnless; stig. 2, very 

 long; Jr. reniform. — 1[. Can. and N. States^ July. 



60. LEPTURUS. R. Br. 



Gr. \fKTOi, slender, otipa, tail ; from the long, slender, cj'lindrical spike. 



Flowers c? $ 9, spicate ; rachis filiform, jointed, joints with one 

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

 2-parted. 



L. PANICULATUS. 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 ; spikelets re- 

 mote, on one side the rachis ; glumes rigidly fLxed, unequal, parallel ; palece 2, 

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

 Mo., Nuttall. 



61. TRIPSACUM. 



Gt. rpilSa, to grind ; application not obvious. 



§ Spikes digitate ; glumes 2, coriaceous ; paleae 2, membrana- 

 ceous. J* Spikelets 2-flowered, outer flower starainate, 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. DACTYLoiDES. 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. — % River banks and sea shores. Mid., W. and 

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



/?. monostackyon. Spike single. 



62. ZEA. 



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



,? . — c? in terminal, paniculate racemes ; spikelets 2-flowered ; 

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

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

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

 glumes 2, very obtuse; paleos awnless; style 1, 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, leafy; 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 man, it is unnecessary here to 

 state. Jl. § 



63 



