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• True grasses
• Leersia virginica

Leersia virginica — white cut grass

Facts

White cut grass is found in riparian forests, river banks and mud bars, and is often in more shaded sites than its congener, rice cut grass (Leersia oryzoides).

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), floodplain (river or stream floodplains), forests, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther number

  2

  Awn on glume

  • NA
  • the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  1

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume awn length

  0 mm

  Glume keel

  NA

  Glume relative length

  NA

  Glume shape

  NA

  Glume veins

  NA

  Glumes per spikelet

  0

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch length

  4–8 cm

  Inflorescence branch roughness

  the inflorescence branches are smooth or only slightly rough

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence branches coming off the lowest stem node

  1

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very spread out, with clearly-evident branches

  Inflorescence length

  100–250 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  6.3–20

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Inflorescence width

  5–40 mm

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  Lemma awn orientation

  NA

  Lemma base hair length

  0 mm

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma is hairless or feels just a tiny bit rough at the base

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is V-shaped if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma hairs

  • the lemma has fine hairs between the veins
  • the lemma is hairless between the veins

  Lemma keel hairs

  the keel of the lemma is hairless

  Lemma marginal vein hairs

  the marginal vein of the lemma has fine hairs on it

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)

  Lemma vein number

  5

  Lemma vein orientation

  the veins on the lemma come together near the tip

  Lower glume length

  0 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  NA

  One or more florets

  there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  2.5–3 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant have both carpels and stamens (synoecious)

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  NA

  Spikelet length

  2.5–3.6 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet position

  the spikelets emerge mainly from the upper halves of the inflorescence branches

  Spikelet shape

  • the spikelets are oblong (rectangular, but with rounded ends) in profile
  • the spikelets are ovate (egg-shaped, widest below the middle with rounded ends) in profile

  Spikelet width

  0.4–1.2 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  • NA
  • the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

  Upper glume length

  0 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  NA

  Upper glume shape

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  2–2.4 mm

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  • no
  • yes

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Rhizomes

  yes

  Roots

  the plant has rhizomes (horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf basal lobe hairy

  NA

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  • the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel
  • the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  4–20 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  1–15 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  1–3 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hair type

  • there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath, but the hairs do not have blisters at their bases
  • there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • river or stream floodplains
  • shores of rivers or lakes
  • swamps

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes have hairs that stand out at a shallow angle, or they curve downwards

  Plant height

  30–140 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  • no
  • yes

  Stem hairs

  the stem has hairs on it

  Stem orientation

  • the stems are upright
  • the stems trail at the base, but turn upwards at the tips

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

  Stem thickness at base

  1–1.5 mm

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae