CLXl. GRAMINE/E. 



593 



brous, nerved, twice longer than the ovate-lanceolate glume; st. about '2f hi<^h 

 erect, scarcely scabrous; bracts and h^s. long, not wide; light green.— Wet 

 places in jneadows, common, and has been ranked under C. bullata. 

 138. C. MiRATA. Dew. (C. arista. Dew. noi of R. Br.) 

 cf Spikes 2 or more, long-cvlindric ; 9 spikes about 2, long-cvlindric, pe- 

 dunculate, subdense-flowered, suberect ; perii^. ovale, conic, long rostrate, cos- 

 tate, bifurcate, glabrous, subinilated at the" base, about equaling the ovale, 

 long-setaceous or long-awned glume; si. about 2r high, rough; Ivs. di\\Abro.cU 

 longer than the stem ; light green.— Shores of lake Ontario, N. Y. SartwdU 

 Also found in the State of Georgia. 



FIG. M.— 1. Carex ; a single, fertile flower ; a, the glume ; 6, the perigjmium, containing the ovary wiH 

 <c) the three stigmas. 2. Scirpus lacustris ; the inflorescence. 3. A single (magnified) flower, showini 

 the 6 hypogynous bristles of the perigynium, ovary with three stigmas, and the three stamens. 



Order CLXI. GRAMINEiE.— aRAssEs. 



Herhn perennial, with fibrous or bulbous rhizomas, or often annual or biennial. 



Stems (culins) cylindrical, fistular, closed at the nodes, covered with a coat ofsilex, often solid. 



Lvs. narrow and undivided, parallel-veined, alternate, with a sheath split down to the nodes, and a menv 



branous ligula or stipule at the juncture of the blade and sheath. 

 Inflorescence arranged in spikes, racemes or panicles. 



Fls. generally perfect, in little spikelefs composed of bracts imbricated in 2 rows. 

 Glumes. — Outer br.icts (calyx, Lmn.) generally 2 and unequal, sometimes 1 oidy. 

 PalecE.— Inner bracts (corolla, Linn.) 2, alternate, the lower (exterior) one simple, the upper (interion 



often doubly carinate, being composed of 2 pieces united by their edges. 

 Scato.— Innermost bracts (nectary, Linn, rudimentary petals) 1—3, distinct or united, membranous, h"- 

 Sta. 1—6, commonly 3. Anthers versatde. . tpogynout . 



Ova. simple, with 2 styles and 2 feathery stitmas. Fritit a caryopsis. 

 Seed with the embryo situated on the outside of farinaceous albumen, at the base, next the hilum. 



Genera 291, speciSs about 3800, univers.illy diffused throughout the world, having no other limits than 

 those that bound vegetation in general. But the species and their characters are widelj; different in dif- 

 ferent climes. In temperate zones the irrasses clothe a large portion of the earth's surface with a com- 

 pact, soft, green, carpet-like turf; but in tropical regions this beautiful grassy turf disappears and the 

 grasses become larger, mor» isolated like other plants, fewer in the number of individuals, with broader 

 feaves and more showy flowers. 



Properties.— 'Vh\s family doubtless contributes more to the sustenance of man and beast than all others 

 combined. Its sweet and nutritious properties reside both in the farinaceous albumen of the seed and in 

 the herbage. No poisonous or even suspicious herb is found amone them, with the single esception of 

 Ldlium temulentum. Tlie poisonous and medicinal erpot or spurred rye is only a parasitic fungus, and 

 therefore forms no exception to this remark. The stems of many grasses contain sugar, as the maize and 

 sugar cam. Silex is also a ftequent ingredient. To this order belong the common grains, maize, wheat, 

 rye, rice, barley, oats, &c. The most important of the cultivated grasses are Phleum or Timothy grass, 

 several kinds of Poa, Agrostis, Alopecurus, Festuca, Aira, Panicum, Ginna, Briza, &c. 



