Leersia oryzoides (L.)
Rice Cutgrass

Habit: 		Perennial with slender creeping rhizomes, in colonies.
Culms: 		Slender, weak, 1-1.5 m. tall, often rooting at the nodes, glabrous except for the
		bristly nodes.
Blades: 	6-25 cm. long, 4-15 mm. wide, flat, narrowed towards the base, very rough with
		recurved prickles on the margins, sometimes a few hairs on upper surface near the base.
Sheaths: 	Shorter than the internodes, very strongly retrorsely scabrous.
Ligule: 	Membranous, truncate, about 1 mm. long.
Inflorescence: 	Terminal panicle 10-20 cm. long, at last exserted; lateral ones often
		included at the base, usually open, the flexuous branches finally spreading, bearing
		short racemes of imbricated spikelets.
Spikelets: 	4-5 mm. long, 1.5-2 mm. wide, elliptic, 1-flowered, disarticulating from the
		pedicel, sparsely hispidulous, the keels bristly ciliate, perfect, but those in the
		open panicles usually sterile, those enclosed in the sheaths cleistogamous and fruitful.
Glumes: 	Wanting.
Lemmas: 	Hispid, strongly bristly ciliate on the keel, boatshaped, somewhat indurated,
		awnless, clasping the palea by a pair of strong marginal nerves.
Palea: 		Similar to the lemma, about as long but much narrower, 1-nerved.
Stamens: 	6 or fewer.
Fruit: 		Grain.
Habitat: 	Swamps, riverbanks, lake edges.  August-October.
Kansas Range:	Nearly throughout.