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Close-up
Leaves
Leersia oryzoides
Common Names: Rice
Cut-grass
Family: Poaceae
Description: Loosely tufted perennial grass creeping from rhizomes; recognized by its rough, saw-toothed leaf edges that can tear through skin, and its spikelets
Leaves: Flat, elongated, with small but sharp-cutting teeth along the edges, 15-30 cm long, 6-15 mm wide
Flowers: One flower per spikelet, with many spikelets arranged in a panicle up to 20 cm long; each spikelet greenish-white, oblong, 4-6 mm long
Seeds: Grains are red-brown, ellipsoid, 3 mm long
Stem: Reclining to ascending, branching, and arising from a slender, elongated rhizome.
Branching Pattern: Leaves attached to the stem via a sheath
Height: 1-1.5 meters, erect or sprawling
Conditions/Habitat/Kind of Forest: Marshes, wet meadows, and on the borders of lakes, ponds and streams
Range: Throughout the continental United States
Conservation Status-US/ World Wide: Not threatened
Uses (Human): The seeds and greens are regularly consumed by mammals, birds, and reptiles. This plant also serves as the larval food plant for butterflies.
References:
Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains.
February 23, 2005. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.
Accessed: January 20, 2006. <http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/floramw/species/leeroryz.htm>
The Pennsylvania Flora Project. Botany Department, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. Accessed: January 20, 2006. <http://www.paflora.org/Web3/Searchbyplantname_detail.asp?key=1495&itemNumber=0>
Redington, Charles B. Plants in Wetlands. Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1994.
USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). Data compiled from various sources by Mark W. Skinner. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.