ORDER CXLTI. GRAMINACE^ 573 



2. Z. flu'itans, (Mich.) Stern slender, branching. Leaves linear, 

 fiat. Spikes solitary, axillary, setaceous, usually 4-flowered ; upper 

 ones staminate, lower pistillate. A small, creeping, jointed grass. — 

 Wet places. Geo., on the coast. Hydropyrum Jluitans, Kunth. 



3. Z. milia'cea, (Mich.) Stem erect, glabrous. Leaves very long, 2 — 

 6 feet, 1 — 2 inches wide, flat. Flowers in an expanding panicle, fertile 

 and sterile ones intermingled. Glumes with short awns. — %. April — 

 May. In water. 6 — 10 feet. 



Tribe II— PHALARI'DE^E. 



Spikelets usually 1-flowered and perfect; if more than 1- 

 flowered, polygamous or monoecious. 



Genus IV. — ZE'A. L. (Indian Corn.) 

 (From sao, to live.) 



Flowers monoecious ; staminate flowers terminal, racemose, 

 paniculate. Spikelets 2-flowered ; pistillate flowers in axillary, 

 compact spikes, inclosed in many sheaths. Spikelets 2-flow- 

 ered ; lower one neutral, superior one fertile. Glumes 2, fleshy, 

 broad, ciliate. Palece fleshy, glabrous, concave. Ovarium ob- 

 lique, sessile, smooth. Style terminal, long, exserted without 

 the sheaths, bifid at the apex, pubescent, channeled. 



1. Z. mays, (L.) Culm solid, simple. Leaves broad, flat; ligule 

 short, ciliate ; fertile spikes, with the spikelets in many series, inclosed 

 in several sheaths or husks, which are the sheaths of leaves from par- 

 tially developed internodes. 



Indigenous in Paraguay and probably in other parts of the world. Corn is said to 

 have been found in the tombs of Egypt, and to have been cultivated in China before 

 the discovery of America. It is now the most extensively cultivated grain, being 

 grown within the limits of 42° south to 45° north latitude, and on plains and moun- 

 tains. It affords food for men and animals from the grain, and its leaves afford fodder 

 for animals. It may be grown for sugar. Keep off the tassel and silk till the stalk is 

 mature, and sugar of good quality may be made from it and in great abundance. 

 There is a great variety of Indian Corn. Some suppose the varieties to be distinct 

 species ; others, that they are the result of cultivation. Some varieties will perfect 

 their growth, it is said, in forty days from planting; Avhich the French call Mais 

 quaraidain, or forty-days corn : other varieties require six months. This adapta- 

 tion to climate is of immense importance in its wide distribution over the surface of 

 the globe. 



Genus V.— ALOPECU'RUS. L. {Fox-tail Grass.) 

 (From alopex, fox, and oura, tail, from the shape of the spike.) 



Glumes 2, 1-flowered, nearly equal. Palece united, cleft on 

 one side below the middle. Styles often connate. 



1. A. genicula'tus, (L.) Stem geniculate, ascending, glabrous. Leaves 

 glabrous ; sheaths shorter than the joints, glabrous. Panicle composed 

 of cylindrical spikes. Glumes compressed, connate at the base, pubes- 

 cent. Palece truncate, glabrous, with an awn at the base. — U . March. 

 In rice-fields. Common. 12 — 18 inches. 



