1 68 



GRAMINEAE. 



VOL. I. 



24. ZIZANIA L. Sp. PL 991. 1753. 



A tall aquatic monoecious grass with long flat leaf-blades and an ample panicle. Spikelets 

 i-flowered, the pistillate borne on the upper branches of the panicle, the staminate on the 

 lower. Scales 2, membranous, the outer somewhat longer, acute in the staminate, long- 

 awned in the pistillate spikelets. Stamens 6. Styles nearly distinct. Grain linear. [From 

 an ancient Greek name for Darnel.] 



A monotypic genus of North America and Asia. Type species : Zizania aquatica L 



i. Zizania aquatica L. Wild Rice. Indian 

 Rice. Water Oats. Fig. 399. 



Zizania aquatica L. Sp. PL 991. 1753. 

 Zizania palustris L. Mant. 295. 1771. 



Culms erect from an annual root, 3-io tall, 

 smooth and glabrous. Sheaths loose, glabrous ; 

 ligule about i' long, thin-membranous; blades i or 

 more long, '-!$' wide, more or less roughened, 

 especially above, glabrous; panicle i-2 long, the 

 upper branches erect, the lower ascending or spread- 

 ing; staminate spikelets 3"-6" long, scales acute or 

 awn-pointed, outer 5-nerved, the inner 3-nerved; 

 scales of the linear pistillate spikelets 4"-! 2" long, 

 the outer one 5-nerved, with an awn i'-2' long, the 

 inner narrower, 3-nerved, awn-pointed. 



In swamps, New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to 

 Florida and Texas. Canada-rice. Water-rice. June- 

 Oct. 



25. HOMALOCENCHRUS Mieg, in Soc. Phys.-med. Basil, Act. Helv. 4: 



307. 1760. 



[LEERSIA Soland. ; Sw. Prod. 21. 1788. Not Hedw. 1782.] 



Marsh grasses with flat narrow generally rough leaf-blades, and paniculate inflorescence. 

 Spikelets i -flowered, perfect, strongly flattened laterally, and usually more or less imbri- 

 cated. Scales 2, chartaceous, the outer one broad and strongly conduplicate, the inner much 

 narrower. Stamens 1-6. Styles short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain ovoid, free. [Greek, 

 in reference to the supposed resemblance of these grasses to Millet.] 



About 5 species, natives of temperate and tropical countries. Besides the following, 2 other? 

 occur in the southern United States. Type species : Phalaris orysoides L. 

 Spikelets oblong, their width less than one-half their length, somewhat imbricated. 



Spikelets i T 4"-i^" long; panicle-branches usually rigid. i. H. virginicus. 



Spikelets 2"-2 l / 2 " long; panicle-branches generally lax. 2. H. oryzoides. 



Spikelets oval, their width more than one-half their length, jnuch imbricated. 3. H. lenticularis. 



i. Homalocenchrus virginicus (Willd.) Britton. 

 White Grass. Fig. 400. 



Leersia virginica Willd. Sp. PI. i: 325. 1707. 

 Asprella virginica R. & S. Syst. 2: 266. 1817. 

 Homalocenchrus virginicus Britton, Trans. N. Y. Acad. 

 Sci. 9: 14. 1889. 



Culms glabrous, decumbent, i-3 long, much 

 branched, slender, smooth. Sheaths usually shorter 

 than the internodes ; ligule short ; blades 2'-6' long, 

 i"-8" wide, acute, usually narrowed toward the base, 

 scabrous; terminal panicle finally long-exserted, 3'-8' 

 long, its branches generally spreading, usually naked 

 below the middle ; lateral panicles smaller and usually 

 included ; spikelets ii"-ii" long, about i" wide, oblong, 

 appressed ; outer scale hispid on the keel and margins ; 

 inner scale hispid on the keel ; stamens i or 2. 



Swamps or wet woods, Maine to Ontario, Florida and 

 Texas. White or False rice. White grama. Aug.-Sept 



