Leersta, 8\v. 
SriKELETS laterally compressed, very shortly pedicelled, panieled ; rbacliilla 
jointed above the rudimentary glumes. Floret 1, hermaphrodite. 
(tIlumes reduced to an obscm-e hyaline entire or ^-lobed i-im. Valve 5-nerved, 
suljcartiiaginous, awidess, keels and margins rigidly ciliate. Pale narrow, ;]-nerved, 
subcartilaginous except at the hyaline mai'gins, grooved along the outer nerves 
and tigbtlv clasped by tlie intlexed margins of the valve, keel rigidly ciliate. 
Lodicules 2, fleshy, finely nerved, Stamens 6, .1 or 1. Styles distinct ; stigmas 
feathery. Grain ovate or oblong, compressed, embraced by the valve and the pale, 
free ; embryo short. 
Perennial ; leaves narrow ; panicle usually flaccid with very slender bi-auches. 
Species o-7, luostly in the tro])ics and the subtropical regions of l)otli hemi- 
spheres. 
PLATE 445. 
Leersia hexandra Sw. (F1. Cap., Vol. VTT. p. 650). 
Nat. Order Graininea?. 
Perennial, rhizome creeping, stoloniferous ; innovation buds ovoid, subacute, 
scales smootli, striate. Stems erect from a ])rostrate or ascending base, rooting 
from the lower nodes, 2 to 4 feet high, simple or very sparingly Ijranched, usually 
slender and weak, many-noded, smooth, firmly striate ; uppermost internode 
longest (up to ^ foot, rarely to 1 foot long) ; slieaths rather tight or the lower 
loose and ultimately spreading, terete, usually shorter than tlie internodes, the 
uppermost longest, reaching to or almost to the panicle, glabrous, slightly scabrid 
or smooth, except the villous nodes ; ligule short, obliquely truncate or bilobed, 
firndy memljranous ; blades nai-rowly linear, tapering to a fine p(»int, 8 to 0 inches, 
by 1^ to 4 lines, glaucous, usually subrigid, very slightly scabrid. 
Panicle 2 to 4 inches long, erect or more or less flaccid and nodding, narrow ; 
branches suberect, simple, up to inch long, filiform, fiexuous, angular, sliglitly 
scabrid or smooth. 
Si'iKKLHTS often closely imbricate, subsecund and laterally concavo-convex, 
obliquely oblong, 1^ to 2 lines long, sometimes purplish ; sides of valve, scabrid or 
smoofl). Stamens G ; anthers I t(^ 1;^ line long. 
Habitat: Natal. Dui'ban Flats, Buclianau 22, 75, 9G ; F-Jerea, 100 feet alt., 
Wood 51)44 : Umiazi River, Kvd'isx 9 ; by the Tugela Pviver, 000 feet alt., and at 
ITmjtunuilo, 2000 feet alt.. HucIki iki ii 281 ; (Tcrrard \md McKeii 25. 
Widely s})read through the troj)ical and subtropical regions. 
Fig' 1, \'a]ve ; 2, pale ; 3, jtistil, stamens and lodieiilei^, AU rnlar(/c(L 
