9g2 GRAMINE.E. Ischcemum. 



1. I. leersioides, ^runro. Culms slender, a foot high or more, roughened and 

 hoarded at leaat at tin; upper nodes : leaves narrowly linear, the lower 3 or 4 inches 

 long, tlio n|)i)er shorter, ami upi)ermost with little or no lilade, scahrous ahovo and 

 strongly ciliato near the base, the point subcartilaginous ; ligule very short, trun- 

 cate ; sheaths scariously margined, very loose, nu)stly much shorter than the inter- 

 nodes, crowded bek)W : si)ikes 1 to 4, about an inch long, solitary on slender 

 pid)escent peduncles (4 to G inches long) from the upi»er sheaths, unilateral, erect or 

 somewhat curved ; joints of the rhachis strongly concavo-convex, smooth or very 

 minutely pubescent: sessile spikelets loosely imbricate, about 1^ lines long, the 

 broad outer glume somewhat oljtuse, 9-nerved, the stout marginal nerves conspicu- 

 ously ciliate with long spreading bristles; upper glume shortcir, acute, broadly 2-nerved, 

 carinate in the middle; sterile spikelet nearly a half shorter, of a single closely con- 

 volute glume : awns none. — Proc. Am. Acad. iv. 3G3. 



ColleeteJ in San Francisco, near a Chinese warehouse, Bolandcr. A native of southein China, 

 evidently introdiicetl, but whetlier it has become naturalized is not known. It is near /. pcdi- 

 natum, Trin., which has much longer spikes and larger si>ikelets, with the lower glume winged 

 as well as fringed. Our grass is aiiparently an annual. 



6. LEERSIA, Soland. Fai.si:-T?ice. 

 Panicle loose, its base often enclosed by the upi)er sheath. 8i)ikelet3 much llat- 

 tened, more or less crowded and overlapping one another, awnless, jointed with the 

 pedicels, one-flowered. Glumes none. Palets hard, strongly flattened laterally, 

 fringed on the keel with bristly hairs; the upper 1-nerved, the lower as long but 

 much broader, 3-nerved, enclosing the flattened grain. Stamens 1, 3, or G. Ovary 

 smooth : styles short; stigmas feathery with branching hairs. 



A small genus of perennial marsh grasses, mostly American, with a few species in the tem- 

 perate and warmer portions of the Old World antl in Australia ; live species are found in the 

 Eastern States, of which but one occurs on the Tacilic. The leaves and sheaths are very rough. 

 The spikelets upon the loose portion of the panicli; are usually sterile, the ovary in these being 

 abortive, while those enclosed by the sheaths are fertile. Closely related to the cultivated Rice 

 (Onjza) and to the Wild-lJice {Zizaaia), but of no agricultural vahie. 



1. L. oryzoides, Swartz. (TIice Cut-Grass.) Culms 2 or 3 feet high, hairy 

 at the joints : leaves long, flat, spreading, i inch or more wide and, with the sheaths, 

 very rough upward : panicle much branched, spreading, G to 8 inches long ; spike- 

 lets 2| to 3 lines long, pale green : stamens 3. — Keichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. t. 181. 



Lake County (Bolandcr), who regards it as introduced, thougli it is indigenous to Oregon. 

 Very common in the Atlantic States in wet places, where it is known by several common names 

 besides the above, as Cut-grass, White-grass, and in the Southern States as "Rice's Cousin." 



7. PHLEUM, Linn. Cat's-Tau, C.hass. Tlmotuy. 

 Panicle dense and spike-like, ovoid or cylindrical. Spikelets much compressed 

 laterally, flat, 1-flowered (rarely in sonte exotic species with the rudiment of a second 

 flower). Glumes boat-shaped, equal, keeled, mucronate or short-aAvned. Floret 

 shorter than the glumes. Lower palet very thin, truncate, sometimes with a minute 

 awn at base, usually awnless ; the upper equalling the lower. Scales 2, hyaline, 

 toothed above. Stamens 3. Ovary smooth : styles long, distinct ; stigmas slender, 

 hairy. Grain compressed, enclosed in the palets. 



A genus of about ten perennial and annual species in the temperate and arctic portions of both 

 hemispheres, and best known through its cultivated I'epresentative P. protensc. The other si)ecies 

 liavc the s;une harsh freliug when the spike is handled that is characteristic of tliis. 



1. P. pratense, T.inn. Culms from a perennial root, 1 to 3 feet high or 

 more, becoming bulbous at base: leaves short, flat, rotigh on the edges; sheaths 



