GKAMINK.i:. ((IKASS FAMILY.) 635 



sheaths; panicle strict, naked ; grain ovoid or oblong (2-3" long), terete. — 

 Moist sandy pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. Sept. 



9. LEERS I A, Swart/,. Wiiitk Grass. (PI. 7.) 



Flowers crowded in one-sided panided spikes or racemes, perfect, but those 

 in tlio o])en panicles nstially sterile by the al)ortion of the ovary, tlmse cnchtsod 

 in the sheaths of the leaves close-fertilized in the bud and ])roliHc. Spik<dets 

 1-Howered, flat, more or less imbricated over each other, jointed uj>()n the short 

 j)edicels. Glumes 2, chartaceous, strongly flattened laterally or conduplicate, 

 awnless, bristly-ciliate on the keels, closed, nearly erjual in length, but tlie 

 lower much broader, enclosing the flat grain. I'alet none. Stamens 1-6. 

 Stigmas feathery, tiie hairs branching. — Perennial marsh grasses; the flat 

 leaves, sheaths, etc., rough upward, being clothed with very minute hooked 

 l)rickles. (Named after John Daniel Leers, a German botanist.) 

 * Spikelets narrowly oblong, rather looschj crowded. 



1. L. Virginica, Willd. (White Grass.) Panicle simple ; the spikelets 

 closelji appressed on the slender branches, around which they are partly curved 

 (U" long) ; stamens 2 (a third imperfect or wanting) ; glumes sparingly ciliate 

 (greenish-white). — Wet woods; Maine to Minn., and southward. Aug. 



2. L. oryzoides, Swartz. (Rice Cut-grass.) (PI. 7, fig. 1-3.) Panicle 

 dil/useli/ branched ; spikelets flat, rather spreading (2^-3" long); stamens 3; 

 glumes strongly bristly-ciliate (whitish). — Very wet places; Mass. to Minn., 

 and southward ; common. Aug. (Eu.) • 



* * Spikelets broadlij oral, imbricatelij covering each other (2|-3" lo7ig). 



3. L. lenticularis, Michx. (Catch-fly Grass.) Smoothish; panicie 

 sim])le ; glumes very flat, strongly bristly-ciliate (said to close and catch flies) ; 

 stamens 2; otherwise like the preceding. — Low grounds, Va., 111., and 

 southward. 



10. ZIZANIA, Gronov. Water or Ixdian Rice. (PI. 7.) 



FloAvers monoecious ; the staminate and pi.><til]ate both in 1-flowered spike- 

 lets in the same panicle. Glumes 2, subtended by a small cartilaginous ring, 

 herbaceo-membranaceous, conve.x, awnless in the sterile, the lower one tipped 

 with a straight awn in the fertile spikelets. Palet none. Stamens 6. Stig- 

 mas ])eucil-form. — Large, often reed-like water-grasses. Spikelets jointed 

 upon the club-shaped pedicels, very deciduous. (Adopted from (^iCdviov, the 

 ancient name of some wild grain.) 



1. Z. aquatica, L. (Indian Rice. Water Oats.) (PI. 7, fig. 1 -4.) 

 Annual; culms 3-9° high; leaves flat, 2-3° long, linear-lanceolate; lower 

 branches of the ample pyramidal yw»/r/r staminate, spreading ; the upper erect, 

 jiistillate ; lower glume long-awned, rough; styles distinct; grain linear, slen- 

 «ler, 6" long. — Swampy borders of streams and in shallow water; common, 

 especially northwestward. Aug. 



2. Z. mili^cea, Michx. I'erennial; panicle diffuse, ample, the s/a?H/na/< 

 and pistillate flowers intermixed ; awns short; styles united; grain ovate.— 

 Penn. (?), Ohio, and southward. Aug. — Leaves involute. 



