14 GRASSES. 



of fresh -blown Fox Grass or Timothy, especially 

 when on some foggy morning the minute particles 

 of moisture have settled upon the delicate stamens, 

 giving them the appearance of being thickly studded 

 with jewels ? 



We have said that many of these plants have 

 jointed stems ; this is observed in those whose leaves 

 grow one above the other; each joint here answers 

 the double purpose of giving strength to the stem 

 and support to the leaf. But, in other varieties, the 

 only leaves produced are what are called radical, or 

 leaves growing from the root; with these the stems 

 are not jointed, but receive additional strength from 

 their being sometimes triangular or square, and mostly 

 very fleshy and stout. 



It is a remarkable provision of Nature, that those 

 plants which appear to have been designed for food, 

 either bear seed in great abundance, or are supplied 

 with some separate provision for reproducing them- 

 selves; this is particularly noticeable in the grasses. 

 Wheat, Rye, Corn, Oats, Rice, and Barley, which 

 constitute staple articles of food, all produce their 

 seed in great quantities ; while in many species whose 

 seed supply the wants of the birds, the roots are 

 perennial and creeping, and are continually sending 

 up suckers, thus increasing themselves many-fold by 

 a distinct method. 



Those seeds which require to be sown every year 

 are reserved for the use of man, whose superior in- 

 tellect teaches him the proper mode of rendering 



