GKASS FAMILY. 



869 



1. LEER'SIA, Solander. False Rice. 



[Xamed in honor of John Daniel Leers; a German Botanist.] 



pikelets l-flowered, perfect, disposed in one-sided racemose panicles, slt- 

 ticnlsiied yfith the short pedicels. G/uwes wanting. PalecB chartaceouS; 

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

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

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

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

 scabrous. 



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



drous ; paleae conspicuously ciliate on the keel. 



Oryza or Rice-like Leersia. Cut-grass. False or wild Rice. 



Rortt perennial, creeping. Culm, 3-5 feet high, striate, scabrous with minute retrorse 

 prickles, the 72w?e.? pubescent. Leaves 6-12 inches long, lance-linear, acuminate, keeled, 

 retrorsely and sharply scabrous, ciliate on the margin ; shealhs sulcate-striate, very rough 

 ■with retrorse prickles in the grooves ; ligide short, retuse. Panicle usually sheathed at 

 base, much branched : branches flexuose, the lower ones in threes and fours. Spikelets 

 elliptic-oblong, pedicellate, greenish-white. Palece compressed, pectinate-ciliate on the 

 keel, the lower one boat-shaped, 3-nerved, the upper one a little longer, linear, 1-nerved. 



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

 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 streams. 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. ORY'ZA,L. Rice. 



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



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

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

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

 Stamem 6. Ovary smooth ; stigmas plumose, — the hairs branched. 

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

 1. 0. SATi'vA, L. Leaves lance-linear, elongated, rough ; panicle race- 

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

 awnless or often with a terminal awn. 

 CcxTivATED Oryza. Rice. Common Rice. 

 Fr. Le Riz. Germ. Der Reiss. Span. Arroz. 



Root annual. Culm 2-4 or 5 feet high, smooth, striate. Leaves 9-18 inches long 

 broadish, rough on the upper surface, smooth beneath ; shealhs striate-nerved, smooth ; 

 ligule elongated (half an inch to three-quarters in length) , erect, tapering to a point. 

 Panicle oblong, 4 - 8 or 9 inches in length, with the branches erect. Ou'er palea nerved 

 or ribbed, hispidly scabrous, often awned, the inner one awnless. 



Cultivated in the Southern States. Native of Asia ? Fl. Fr. 



16* 



