Leersia. | LXXXIX. GRAMINE. 507 
1, L. oryzoides, Sw. (fig. 1155). Common Leersia.—Stems about 2 
feet high, the leaves, especially their sheaths, very rough. Panicle, when 
fully developed, loosely branched, spreading, 6 or 8 inches long, but in the 
British specimens usually much shorter, and partially included in the 
sheath of the last leaf. Spikelets numerous, all turning in one direction, 
2 to nearly 3 lines long; the first glume rather broad, with 2 nerves on 
each side of the keel; the second much narrower, with 1 faint nerve on 
each side. 
In wet places, ditches, and marshes, common in North America, extend- 
ing over a great part of Asia, and more sparingly across central Europe to 
northern Italy, France, and Denmark, reappearing in the tropics of both 
worlds. In Britain, found only in Hampshire, Sussex, and Surrey. fF. 
autumn. 
II. MILIUM. MILIUM. 
Spikelets loosely panicled, 1-flowered, without awns. Empty glumes 2, 
concave, nearly equal. Flowering glume concave, of a firmer texture, hard 
and shining when in fruit. 
A genus of very few species, but widely dispersed over the globe, usually 
placed amongst Panicee, on account of the hardened fruiting glume, but 
there is no articulation of the pedicel, and it seems better to unite it with 
Sporobolus, Isachne, and a few other exotic genera in a tribe or sub-tribe 
of Poacee. 
1. Milium effusum, Linn. (fig. 1156). Spreading Milium.—A tall, 
slender Grass, often 4 or 5 feet high, with rather short, flat leaves, and a 
long, loose, slender, and spreading panicle of small, pale green or purple 
spikelets. Empty glumes concave but not keeled, 1 to 14 lines long, nearly 
smooth. Flowering glume almost as long, very smooth and shining. 
Palea nearly similar but rather smaller, faintly 2-nerved, and notched at 
the top. 
In moist woods, widely spread over Europe, Asia, and North America, 
extending from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle. Common in 
Britain. /'l. summer. 
Ill. PANICUM. PANICUM. 
Spikelets either in a loose or close and spike-like panicle, or along one 
side of the simple branches of a panicle, usually small, 1-flowered, rarely 
awned. Outer glumes usually 3; the first or lowest small, sometimes very 
minute, the next always empty, the third empty or with an imperfect or 
male flower in its axil. Flowering glume concave, of a firmer texture, 
hard when in fruit. Palea like the flowering glume, but rather smaller, 
and more or less 2-nerved. 
A vast genus, chiefly tropical or North American, with a very few species 
Spreading into Russian Asia and Europe, including most of the cultivated 
Millets of southern Europe, Africa, and Asia. It is in most cases easily 
recognized by the small outer glumes, although in some species reduced to 
an almost microscopical scale. Many botanists remove the following 
Species into three separate genera distinct from the true tropical Panicums. 
Spikelets 2 together, along one side of the linear, digitate 
branches of the panicle. (Dre@rrarta.) 
Spike-like branches of the panicle 2 to 4 inches long : . Ll. P. sanguinale. 
