GEASS TA2ilLY. 



3G9 



1. LEER'SIA, Solander. False Eice. 



pTamed in honor of Jr/an Daniel Leers; a German Botanist.] 



SpiMets 1-fiowered, perfect, disposed in one-sided racemose pankles, ar- 

 ticulated with the short pedicels. Glumes wanting. Fahcz chartaceoiiS; 

 compressed carinate. awnless, bristly-ciliate on the keels, nearly equal in 

 length, but the lower one much broader and boat-shaped, enclcsiDg the 

 flat grain. Stamens 1-6. Stigmas plumose with braEching hairs. 

 Perennial marsh grasses, with the culms, sheaths and flat leaves retrorseiY 

 scabrous. 



1. L. oryzoi'des, Su-artz. Panicle diffusely branched ; florets trian- 



drous ; paleae conspicuously ciliate on the keel. 



Ortza ok Rice-like Leeesia. Cut-grass. False or wild Eice. 



Foci perennial, creeping. Cidm 3-5 feet high, striate, scabrous with minnte retrorso 

 prickles, the nodes pubescent. Leaves 6-12 inches long, lance-linear, acuminate, keeled, 

 retrorsely and sharplr scabrous, ciliate on the margin ; sheaths sulcate-striate, very rough 

 with retrorse prickles in the grooves : ligule short, retuse. Panicle usually sheathed at 

 base, much branched : branches flexuoso, the lower cues in threes and fours. SpikeleU 

 elliptic-obloEg, pedicellate, greenish-white. Palece compressed, pectinate-cihate on the 

 keel, the lower one boai-shapeJ, S-nerved, the upper one a little longer, linear, 1-nerved. 



Swamps, and along sluggish rivulets : throughout the United States. ' Fl. August. Pr. 

 Sept. 



Ohs. This rough grass seems to be common to both hemispheres, — 

 and is often quite abundant in our swampy meadows, and along the mar- 

 gins of muddy stream?. Although this grass is said to have some value 

 at the South, it is in the Xorthern States considered not only worthless, 

 but rather a nuisance. The farmer should therefore know it, and take 

 measures (by drainage, &c.) to expel it, or keep it in subjection. 



2. ORT'ZA, L. Eice. 



[The Greek nam3 of Rice, — coined from Eruz. its Arabic name.] 



Spikelets 1-flowered, perfect. Glumes 2, small, awnless but cuspidate, 

 slightly concave. Palez 2. compressed-carinate, nearly equal in 

 length, — the lower one broader, and often with a straight awn at apex. 

 Stamens 6. Ovary smooth : stigmas plumose, — the hairs branched. 

 Caryopsis oblong, free, closely embraced by the persistent paleie. 

 1. 0. SATi'vA, L. Leaves lance-linear, elona'ated. rouo-h : panicle race- 

 mose, contracted ; branches slender, rough ; palece oblong, scabrous, 

 awnless or often with a terminal awn. 

 CcxTivATED Op.yza. Elce. Common Eice. 

 Fr. Le Eiz. Germ. Der Eeiss. Span. Arroz. 



Root annual. Calm 2-4 or -5 feet h'-S:. =r;: r-.h, striate. Z^.-ti 5-:? ^.rbos long 



oroadLsh, rough on the upper surface. ih ; sheaths s:, . ' . smooth^' 



lioule elongated (hah" an inch to thre-- - -ingth), erec: . a point' 



i%mcfe oblong. 4-S or 9 inches in len;-;„. .. .„ branches ereci. i u - j- .i.i,! nerved 



ar ribbed, hispidly scabrous, often awned, the inner one awnless. ^ 



Cultivated in the Southern States, Xative of Asia ? Fl. Fr. 



16- 



