540 GPvAMiNK^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



* Spikelets narrowly dttong, rather loosely crowded. 



1. JL. oryzoaclcs, Swartz. (RiCE CUT-GRASS.) Panicle tlijfu&dy brn 

 often sheathed at the base; spikelets fiat, rather spreading in flower (2"-3' 

 long); stamens 3 ; paleee strongly bristly-ciliate (whitish). Wet places; com- 

 mon. (Eu.) 



2. L,. Virgiilica, Willd. (WHITE GRASS.) Panide simple: the spike- 

 Ids closely oppressed on the slender branches around which they are partly curved 

 (!'' long) ; stamens 2 (a third imperfect or wanting) ; paleae sparingly ciliate 

 (greenish-white). Wet woods. Aug., Sept. 



* # Spikelets broadly oval, imbricately covering each other (2i"-3" long), 



3. L. lenticularis, Michx. (FLY-CATCH GRASS.) Smoothish ; pani- 

 cle simple ; pale* very flat, strongly bristly ciliate (said to close and catch flies) ; 



.stamens 2. Low grounds, Virginia, Illinois, and southward. 

 OKYZA SAT!VA, the RICE-PLANT, is allied to this genus. 



2. ZIZANIA, Gronov. WATER or INDIAN RICE. 



Flowers monoecious; the staminate and pistillate both in 1 -flowered spikelets 

 in the same panicle. Glumes wanting, or rudimentary, and forming a little 

 cup. Paleai herbaceo-membranaceous, convex, awnless in the sterile spikelets, 

 the lower tipped with a straight awn in the fertile ones. Stamens 6. Stigmas 

 pencil-form. Large and often reed-like water-grasses. Spikelets jointed with 

 the club-shaped pedicels, very deciduous, (Adopted from Zidviov, the ancient 

 name of some wild grain.) 



1. Z. aqii'.stECJi, L. (INDIAN RICE. WATER OATS.) Lower branches 

 of the ample pyramidal panicle staminate, spreading ; the upper erect, pistillate ; 

 pedicels strongly club-shaped; lower paleee, long-awmd, rough; styles distinct; 

 grain linear, slender. (Z. clavulosa, Michx.) Swampy borders of streams 

 and in shallow water; common, especially northwestward. Aug. Culms 3- 

 9 high. Leaves flat, 2 -3 long, linear-lanceolate. Grain ' long ; gathered 

 for food by the Northwestern Indians. 



2. Z* milifaceil, Michx. Panicle diffuse, ample, the staminate and pis- 

 tillate fiowers intermixed; awns short; styles united ; grain ovate, ty Penn. 1 

 Ohio, and southward. Aug. Leaves involute. 



3. AL.OPECIJRUS. L. FOXTAIL GRASS. 



Spikelets 1 -flowered. Glumes boat-shaped, strongly compressed and ko-'li d, 

 nearly equal, united at the base, equalling or exceeding the lower palea, which 

 is awncd on the back below the middle : upper palca wanting ! Stamens 3. 

 Styles mostly united. Stigmas long and feathered. Panicle contracted into a 

 cylindrical and soft dense spike. (Name from dXo>7r/7, fox, ar,d ovpa, tail, the 

 popular appellation, from the shape of the spike.) 



1. A. I'KAir.ssis, L. (MEADOW FOXTAIL.) Culm upright, smooth (2 

 high); p(d,n ojintlUng lite ncntc <//>nncs ; airn , .c* rt-.-d more, tlum half its length, 

 twisttd : upper, leaf much shorter than its inilaii-d slu-uh. 1J. Meadov 

 pastures of E. New England and New York. May. (Nat. from Eu.) 



