Leersia oryzoides
This genus consists of rhizomatous perennials with short ligules
that often continue onto the sheath as auricles. Spikelets are
1-flowered, awnless, compressed laterally, and lack glumes.
Lemmas tightly enclose the firm margins of the palea.
3 species in MN; 3 native
Common species:
Leersia oryzoides (lear' zee ah o rye' zo ee' dees)
Synonyms: None Common names: rice cut-grass, white grass Origin and habitat: Native; moist to wet meadows, stream banks, and lakeshores Identifying characters: Cespitose perennials as much as 1.5 m tall with a ring of felt-like hairs covering the nodes. Leaves are strongly scabrous with the blade margins almost prickly. The collar area is pubescent and hardened, with tiny ligules (up to 0.5 mm) that are higher on the sides. The inflorescence is a nodding open panicle with whitish or greenish spikelets with the lemmas stiffly ciliate on the keel. Comments: This is the grass so often encountered when hiking across wet meadows. The leaves are almost like saw blades. Leersia is easily recognized from a distance because it often forms a zone of light yellow-green around ponds and along streams.
MAPS ADDITIONAL SPECIES IN MINNESOTA: L. lenticularis L. virginica Next genus Return to technical key