22 MR. G, BENTHAM ON GRAMINE. 
edition of Harvey's * Genera of South-African Plants. He had 
also amassed an immense number of notes on synonyms he had 
verified, on points of structure he had ascertained, &c., as mate- 
rials for the general work he was preparing for DeCandolle's 
Monographs. His death has extinguished all such hopes as we 
had entertained; and although his notes, mostly dispersed in his 
herbarium or in the gramineous books of his library, are now left 
at our disposal at Kew, yet he had unfortunately not committed 
to paper his ideas on the limits and distinctive characters of tribes, 
genera, and subgenera not included in the South-African Flora; 
and these I could only gather from his conversation and corre- 
spondence. My own preparation for the work I have now under- 
taken was chiefly the study of European grasses for my ' Hand- 
book of the British Flora, and of Old- World Graminez generally 
for the * Flora Hongkongensis’ and ‘ Flora Australiensis,’ whenl 
was in constant correspondence relating to them with Genöral 
Munro. Having now had to work also upon American forms and 
to examine with more detail the South-European, Oriental, and 
African ones, I have had to modify in some respects the views I 
had expressed as to the relative importance and constancy of some 
of the characters, and partially to rearrange some of the tribes 
and subtribes, although the general principles of classification 
which had been suggested by General Munro have only been con- 
firmed by further experience. 
I have already, in my paper on the classification of Monocoty- 
ledons (Journ. Linn. Soc. ( Bot.) xv. p. 513), entered so fully into my 
reasons for adopting as to Gramine:e a terminology in accordance 
with the observations of Mohl and in harmony with that followed 
as to Cyperaces, that I need not repeat them on the present occa- 
sion. I would only add a few words in further reply to the objec- 
tion repeatedly made to me that the falling off together of the 
flowering glume and palea (commonly called the two palez) en- 
closing the fruit, isa strong evidence of their being really homo- 
logous. But this is a mistake. A careful observation will show 
that they never do both together fall away from the rhachilla or 
axis of the spikelet ; it is the rhachilla itself that breaks up, a por- 
tion of whieh always remains attached to the glume and palea and 
keeps them together round the fruit. In most Panicacese, espe 
cially in Andropogone&, the whole spikelet with the empty glumes 
as well as the flowering one falls off with the fruit. In the majo- 
rity of Poacew the disarticulation takes place between each two 
