1847.] On the Grasses. 243 



cat-tail, bur-weed, &c., soon fills up ditches, and occasions them 

 to require frequent cleansing. In this respect it is a formidable 

 plant, even in slow rivers. In the Isle of Ely, they cleanse these 

 by an instrument called a bear, which is an iron roller, with a 

 number of pieces of steel, like small spades, fixed to it. This is 

 drawn up and down the river by horses walking along the banks, 

 and tears up the plants by the roots, which float, and are carried 

 down the stream." Flowers July, August. 



Glyceria Elongata, Trin. — Long Panacled Manna Grass. 



Panicle elongated, appressed; branches mostly solitary; spike- 

 lets ovate, obtuse, two to four flowered; leaves long, linear, smooth, 

 ligule short. — Hooker'' s Jl. Bor. Jim., 2, j). 248; Poa elongata 

 Torr., fi. 1, p. 112; Poa Torreyana Spring. Culm three to four 

 feet high, erect, smooth, simple; leaves of the culm about a foot 

 long, and panicle eight to twelve inches long, slightly nodding; 

 glumes nearly equal, acute, keeled, transparent on the margin; 

 palea unequal, oblong ovate, acute, strongly nerved, upper one 

 obtuse, shorter than the lower; stamens two. 



Wet places in Canada and Northern States, and among the 

 mountains of North Carolina, where it is often abundant in wet 

 places, formed by the dripping of water from the precipices above. 

 It flowers in June, July. 



Glyceria Fluitans, R. Br. — Manna Grass. 



Panicle secund, long, slightly branched; spikelets linear-terete, 

 appressed, about ten flowered, flowers obtuse. — R. Br., prod. 1, 

 p. 179; Fest'uca flvitans, Linn., sp. 1, p. 175; Poa fluitans, Ell., 

 sk. 1, p. 163. Culm erect or ascending, four to six feet high, 

 smooth; leaves six to twelve inches long, and two to four lines 

 wide, smooth beneath, rough on the margin and upper surface; 

 panicle twelve to fifteen inches long, often partly concealed in 

 the sheath of the upper leaf ; stamens three; anthers large, yellow; 

 caryopsis oblong, grooved on the upper side. 



Ponds and wet places. Common in the Northern and Western 

 States, and as far south as Carolina. It abounds also in many 

 parts of Europe. The seeds are said to be very nourishing; have 

 a sweetish taste; and are collected in some parts of Holland, Ger- 

 many and Poland, under the name of " Manna Seeds," and used 

 m soups and gruels. The flour from the seeds, makes bread very 

 Mttle inferior to that from wheat. Geese, ducks, and fish, feed 

 upon the seeds, and trout are said to thrive greatly in streams 

 where this grass grows abundantly. This grass is eaten greedily 

 by all kinds of stock; and in some parts of England it is highly 



