356 ENDOGENOUS PLANTS 



. I* Virginica, Willd. Panicle simple, slender, exserted; 

 spikelets appressed, somewhat imbricated, greenish ; stamens 2. 

 VIRGINIAN LEERSIA. 



Culms 2 to 3 feet long, slender and leaning, branched, smoothish. Leaves 3 to 6 

 inches long. Panicle somewhat secund ; branches few and solitary. Lower palea 

 remarkably keeled and boatshaped, sparingly ciliate. 

 Hob. Moist woodlands : frequent. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. A remarkably slender-panicled, delicate-looking grass ; but 

 of no agricultural value. 



468. ZIZAKT'IA, Gronovius. 

 [The ancient Greek name of some plant now doubtful.] 



Flowers monoicous, the staminate and pistillate spikelets in the same 

 panicle. Glumes wanting, or, in the pistillate spikelets, rudimen- 

 tary and cup-shaped. Paleae herbaceous, convex, awnless in the 

 staminate florets, but in the pistillate ones the lower palea is tipt with 

 a straight awn. Stamens 6. Stigmas pencil-form. Stout aquatic 

 grasses. 



1. Z. aquatica, L. Panicle pyramidal ; lower branches spread- 

 ing, and staminate, upper ones erect, pistillate ; pedicels clavate ; 

 awns long. 

 AQUATIC ZIZANIA. Water-Oats. Reed. Indian Rice. 



Perennial f Culm 4 to 8 or 10 feet high, smooth. Leaves 1 to 2 or 3 feet long, 

 serrulate on the margin ; sfieaths smooth, striate ; ligule rather large. Panicle 1 to 

 2 feet long; branches verticillate. Pistillate spikelets about an inch in length, 

 needle-like, racemose on the branches ; awn as long as the spikelet. 

 Sab. Swampy rivulets ; along Brandywine : rare. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This stout grass is rare, here ; but is abundant along tide- 

 water, and well known as the favorite resort of the delicious 

 Ortolan, or Heed-bird (Emberiza Oryzivora, .Z/.), in autumn. 



TRIBE 2. AGROSTID'EAE. 



fipikdets 1 -flowered, perfect (sometime with the abortive rudiment of a second 

 floret above), panided, or sometimes in a dense spike; stamens not more than 3 ; 

 stigmas usually plumose. 



A. PHLEOI V DEAE : Inflorescence densely spiked; glumes equal, strongly 

 keeled. 



469. PHI^UM , L. 



[An ancient Greek name ; meaning obscure.] 



Paleae 2, membranaceous, shorter than the mucronate or awned 

 glumes, the lower palea truncate, usually awnless, the upper 

 one 2-keeled. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Culms somewhat wiry ; 

 spike very dense, and rather harsh. 



1, P. PRATE"NSE, L. Spike cylindric, elongated; glumes truncate, 



tipt with a short awn ; keel ciliate ; anthers bluish purple ; stigmas 



white. 



MEADOW FULEUM. Timothy. Cat's-tail Grass. 



