Leersia virginica

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Leersia virginica
Leersia virginica NRCS-1.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Leersia
Species:
L. virginica
Binomial name
Leersia virginica

Leersia virginica, commonly known as whitegrass, white cutgrass, or Virginian cutgrass, is a perennial grass that is native to eastern North America, typically found in partially shaded low-lying wet areas. It has been observed in habitats such as along streambanks, in swamps, and in floodplain forests. [1]

Its blooming period occurs from mid-summer to early fall. Whitegrass can be distinguished from rice cutgrass ( Leersia oryzoides ) by its smoother leaf sheaths, flowering heads with solitary lower branches in the flowering heads, smaller and more strongly overlapping spikelets, and short rhizomes with overlapping scales. Rice cutgrass, in contrast, has leaf sheaths round enough to cause painful scratches, flowering heads with two or more branches at the lowermost nodes, larger and barely overlapping spikelets, and more elongated rhizomes with the scales usually not overlapping. [2]

References

  1. Weakley, A.S. 2020. Flora of the Southeastern United States. Edition of 20 October 2020. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  2. "White cutgrass (whitegrass) Leersia virginica Willd". Ada Hayden Herbarium, Iowa State University. Retrieved 3 July 2024.

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