461 



GRAMINEiE. 



Glvceria. 



Culm 3-5 feet high, compressed, erect or ascending. Leaves 8-12 inches long and 2-4 

 lines wide, often floating in the young plant, smoothish : ligule elongated, acute or obtuse. 

 Panicle 8-12 inches long, the lower part sometimes concealed in the uppermost sheath ; 

 the branches nearly simple, bearing the spikelets in a racemose manner. Spikelets nearly 

 sessile, about three-fourths of an inch long. Glumes unequal, rounded on the back, without 

 nerves. Pales nearly equal in length ; the lower one roughish, scarious on the margin ; the 

 apex eroded : upper palea lanceolate, frequently longer than the lower. Stamens 3 : anthers 

 large, yellow. Styles short : stigmas white. Scales thick, somewhat cordate. Caryopsis 

 oblong, sulcate on the upper side. 



Ponds and ditches : common. Fl. June. This grass is found in many parts of the world. 

 The grains have a sweetish taste, and are collected largely in Holland, being used as an article 

 of food. 



2. Glyceria acutiflora, Torr. Sharp -flowered Manna-grass. 



Panicle simple, elongated, appressed ; spikelets linear-terete, 4 - 12-flowered ; the flowers 

 attenuated and acute, indistinctly nerved ; leaves short, erect. — Torr. fl. 1. p. 104. Festuca 

 acutiflora, Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 37. Festuca brevifolia, Muhl. gram. p. 167 ? 



Culm about a foot and a half high, a little compressed. Leaves 3-6 inches long and 2 

 lines wide, attenuated at the point, smoothish : ligule elongated. Panicle somewhat nodding, 

 the lower part concealed in the uppermost sheath. Spikelets about 8 lines long ; the flowers 

 distinct. Glumes unequal, nerveless. Lower palea lanceolate, attenuate to a point ; the 

 upper much longer. Stamens 3 : stigmas white. Caryopsis oblong, grooved on the upper 

 side. 



Overflowed meadows and wet woods : Island of New-York, Fishkill, &c. Fl. June. Very 

 near the preceding species, but easily distinguished by its acute flowers and nerveless palese. 



3. Glyceria aquatica, Smith. Reed Manna- grass. 



Panicle equal, diffuse, much branched ; spikelets linear-oblong, 5 - 9-flowered ; flowers 

 free, oblong, obtuse, prominently 7-nerved ; leaves broadly linear. — Smith, Engl. fl. 1. p. 

 116 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 367; Hook fl. Bor.-A?n. 2. p. 248. G. spectabilis, Trin. in act. 

 Petrop. 6 ser. 1. p. 365. Poa aquatica, Linn. sp. 1. p. 67. P. aquatica, /3. Americana, Torr. 

 fl. 1. p. 108 ; Beck, bot. p. 409. 



Perennial. Rhizoma creeping. Culm 3-5 feet high, stout. Leaves a foot or more in 

 length and often half an inch wide, flat, usually smooth, but sometimes a little rough ; lower 

 part of the sheaths entire : ligule short, obtuse. Panicle 8-12 inches long, at first contracted 

 and somewhat nodding, but finally expanding ; the branches flexuous and smoothish, about 

 4 in a semiwhorl. Spikelets often purple, mostly 6 - 8-flowered. Glumes unequal, ovate, 

 rather obtuse ; the upper one twice as large as the lower. Lower palea obtuse, shorter than 

 the upper one. Stamens 3 : anthers yellow. Stigmas compound. 



