FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 



25 



possible single exception of Lolivm temidenium , no species is poisonous 

 or even injurious to stock. All of our cereals, wheat, rye, barley, 



oats, rice, maize, etc., are derived 

 from various grasses, many of which 

 have their wild relatives growing 

 abundantly in our fields. Thus the 

 sorirhum of commerce belongs to the 

 same genus as the dreaded "Johnson- 

 grasb" of the south {Sorghvni hale- 

 peme), one of the worst usurpers of 

 cultivated lands. 



Its value as a source of food 

 products alone would lend importance 

 to the grass family; but besides their 

 primary use in furnishing nutrition 

 the grasses exhibit many economic 

 uses. Some species are used for 

 hat-plaiting, mat-weaving and bas- 

 ket- weavinof; others furnish material 

 for the paper industry, and the genus 

 Andropogon contributes to the man- 

 ufacture of perfumery. 

 The arl)orescent grass known as Bamboo {Bamhusa) is a great 

 factor in the industrial arts of 

 oriental countries. Boats, houses, 

 furniture, quill- work, fences, water- 

 wheels, handles for tools, umbrel- 

 las, knives, and countless small ob- 

 jects of use and beauty will be re- 

 membered as formed from the tough 

 tubes of this oriental grass, while 

 the young shoots are preserved as 

 sweetmeats, and lampwicks are made 

 from the pith. Bamboo carvings 

 rival ivory in their delicacy and 

 durability, the polished joints of the 

 phint serve as writing tablets for the 

 natives of Sumatra, and even tele- 

 scopes have l)een made of bamboo FAM...-Kaims chess ^^'■7;'' ™;)^ 



' (After Bntton iind Brown, 111. Fl. Northern 



stalks. u. s.) 



Fig. 21.— Beckmannia grass. (Beck- 

 mannia erucaefoi'nm) (After Britton 

 and Brown, 111. Fl. Northern U. S.) 



