HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



compressed), as in Fig. 8, b; or flattened from the backs of the glumes 

 and lemmas (dorsally compressed), as in Fig. 8, c. 



The kind of spikelet pictured in Fig. 6 is probably the basic type, 

 from which reduced or more compUcated sorts have been derived by 

 various changes. In studying other types of grass spikelets, we should 

 mentally compare them with the basic type in order to decide which 

 parts have been modified or eliminated. The following types of 

 changes are common, and they characterize large groups of grasses: 



1. The glumes may become large, covering the whole spikelets 

 (oats and its relatives). 



2. The upper florets may become eliminated, so that the spikelet 

 is one-flowered (red top, timothy, and their relatives). 



3. The lower florets may become sterile and much reduced in size, 

 the upper one remaining fertile (canary grass, foxtail). 



4. The glumes may become reduced to little ridges on the tip of 

 the pedicel (rice, cut grass). 



5. Either stamens or pistil may be eliminated, giving rise to spike- 

 lets or plants of one sex (salt grass, creeping love grass, Texas 

 bluegrass, corn, Sorghum, wild rice). 



HOW TO COLLECT AND STUDY GRASSES 



ROBABLY there is not a county in the United States 

 where less than fifty to one hundred different species 

 of grasses are to be found. Some will be very com- 

 mon and conspicuous, but others will be rare and hard 

 to find. Al first, all may look rather similar, so that 

 sharp observation will be needed to detect even all of 

 the common grasses around us. Don't be afraid to 

 get down on hands and knees and crawl to get a 

 good look. Each sort of habitat will have its own grasses: look in 

 prairie, woodland, marsh, bog, ditches, corn or cotton fields, deserts, 

 mountain meadows, or alpine summits, and you will probably be re- 

 warded with a different set of species each time. Even in the same 

 locality, new species come into flower throughout the spring, summer, 

 and fall. 



Grasses are easy to collect and prepare, so one should always take 

 care to make good specimens, which will be a pleasure to study later. 



