180 * LEPTURT^S. 



lower convex on the back, many-nerved, tapering 

 into a mucronate point or bristle ; squamulsB 3, longer 

 than the ovary ; stamens 3 ; grain oblong, free. Ar- 

 borescent or shrubbery grasses, simple or with fas- 

 cicled branches, and with large spikelets in panicles 

 or racemes, the flowers polygamous. 

 ]S"ame from arundo^ a reed. 



1. Arundinaria Macrospirma (Large Cane). River 

 banks, S. Virginia, Kentucky, and southward, for- 

 ming cane-brakes ; the stems are extensively used . 

 for fishing rod s. ^ 



2. A. Tecta (Small Cane). Swamps and moist 

 soil, Virginia, Illinois, and southward. 



42. LEPTURUS— R. Br. Lepturus. 



GENERIC CHARACTER, 



Spikelets solitary on each joint of the filiform rha- 

 chis, and partly immersed in the excavation, 1 to 2- 

 flowered ; glumes 1 to 2, including the 2 thin point- 

 less palets ; stamens 3 ; grain free, oblong-linear, 

 cylindrical. Low and branching, often procumbent 

 grasses, chiefly annuals, with narrow leaves and 

 slender spikes. 



Whence the name, from leptos^ slender, and oijra, 

 a tail. 



1. L. Paniculatus (Slender Tail grass). Open 

 grounds and salt licks, Illinois and westward. Rare. 



