58 Bulletin VII. 1. 



ical regions of the Old World, a few in America. Some of the 

 species are cultivated for ornament. 



I. Pennisetum typhoideum Rich. Cat- tail or Pearl Millet. 



A coarse grass six to eight or ten feet high, with a dense "head" 

 or spike-like panicle an inch in diameter, and six to twelve inches 

 long. It requires a rich soil and a warm climate, and under favor- 

 able circumstances in the Southern States will yield a large 

 amount of fairly good forage. It may be cut two or three times 

 during the season. 



Tribe VI. ORYZE^. 



Spikelets usually much compressed laterally, one-flowered, 

 staminate, pistillate or hermaphrodite; empty glumes two or none, 

 the flower being subtended by the floral glume and palea alone, 

 the latter one-nerved and regarded by some as a second glume. 

 Stamens frequently six. Axis of the inflorescence continuous. 



A small tribe of about forty species, divided among sixteen gen- 

 era, mostly confined to tropical America. One of the best known 

 and mxost extensively used of the cereals, rice {Oryza sativa) belongs 

 here. 



13. ZIZANIA Linn. Sp. PI. 991 (1753). 



Spikelets linear, unisexual, monoecious, one-flowered, in large 

 terminal panicles, the female spikelets on the erect upper branches, 

 the male or staminate spikelets on the lower expanded branches 

 of the same panicle. Glumes two, nearly equal, very narrow, 

 awnless, or the outer one in the female spikelet long-awned. 

 Stamens six. Styles more or less connate; stigmas plumose 

 with simple hairs. Grain linear, half an inch long. Tall, aquatic 

 grasses with long flat leaves. 



Species one. Widely distributed in North America and north- 

 eastern Asia. 



I. Zizania aquatica Linn. Wild or Indian Rice. 



A tall, erect annual, three to ten feet high, with a panicle 

 twelve to twenty-four inches long. Leaves eighteen to thirty-six 

 inches long, and one-half to an inch wide; narrowed toward the 

 base and tapering to a very acute apex. In shallow water along 

 rivers and lakes. August. 



This grass has not been reported as occurring in Tennessee, but 

 very likely it may be found in the western part of the State along 

 the Mississippi. The grain is a favorite food of the reed bird, 

 and it is cultivated to some extent by sportsmen with a view to 

 attracting these birds. Some of the larger dealers offer the seed 

 for sale. 



14. ORYZA Linn. Gen. PI. I., p. 324 (1791)- 

 Spikelets one-flowered, hermaphrodite, strongly flattened later- 



