540 GRAMINT:JE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



* Splkdtts narrnirh/ olilona, rather loosely crowd* tl 



1. L.. oryzoldes, Swurtz. (Ricis CUI-GRASS.) / 'a nie/cilijfnscli, brushed, 

 often sheathed at the base; s/>//v/<-/s _//<//, m/yW *]>rea<lh/ in flower (2|"-3' 

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

 mon. (Eu.) 



2. L,. Virgiilica, Willd. (WIIITK GRASS.) Ptmidr. simple.; /Ac .s/>/7-e- 

 /r/,-,' <-/rw/// uppnssed on the slender branches around which they are partly curved 

 (1^" long) j stamens 2 (a third imperfect or wanting) ; palea; sparingly ciliate 

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



* * Spikelets broadly oval, iiulricately covering each other (2^"-3' ; lony). 



3. It. leiificillaris, Michx. (FLY-CATCH GKASS.) Sinoothish ; pani- 

 cle simple ; paleue very flat, strongly bristly ciliate (said to close and catch flics) ; 

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



OHYZA SATIVA, the RICE-PLANT, is allied to this genus. 



2. ZIZANIA, Gronov. WATER or INDIAN RICE. 



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

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

 cup. Palea} herbaeeo-membranaceous, convex, awnless in the sterile spikelets, 

 the lower tipped with a straight awn in the fertile ones. Stamens G. 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. siqiuaficii, L. (INDIAN RICE. WATER OATS.) Lower branches 

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

 pedicels strongly club-shaped ; lower paled*, loiiu-aivned, 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. niiliacca, Michx. Panicle diffuse, ample, the stamhiatf. and pis- 

 tillate flowers intermixed; awns short; styles united ; grain ovate, ty Penn. ? 

 Ohio, and southward. Aug. Leaves involute. 



3. A L.OPE CITRUS, L. FOXTAIL GRASS. 



Spikelets 1 -flowered. Glumes boat-shaped, strongly compressed and keeled, 

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

 is aAvncd on the back below the middle : upper palea wanting ! Stamens 3. 

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

 cylindrical and soft dense spike. (Name from fiXcoyn^, fox, and 01*7x1, tail, the 

 popular appellation, from the. shapf <>| 'the spike.) 



1. A. IMJATKNSIS, L. (MKAHOW FOXTAIL.) Culiii upright, smooth (2 

 high); pn/iu <'!ji/<t//iiHi tlie nettle </litu>. -s : n/'-n rrsi-r/rd more than half its length, 



tiiristcd ; apper leaf jnucb shorter than its ijillatcd .--heath. 1J. Meadown :ui'l 

 pastures of E. New England and N-w York. May. (Nat. fr:un-Eu.) 



