CULM. 11^ 



Jlgrostis alba; but when radical fibres are emitted 

 from these joints, and attach themselves to the earth, 

 as in the Fiorin grass, Agrostis stolonifera, the culm is 

 said to be stoloniferous. Compared with other stems, 

 these are more frequently triangular, jointed, and hol- 

 low, and in this climate, they are almost without ex- 

 ception, of annual duration. 



The flint which axists in the stems of grasses, and 

 thpir consequent utility in the arts, has been formerly 

 noticed. The primary design of this deposition, is 

 probably to secure the flower and the seed from de- 

 struction, for while animals greedily devour the her- 

 bage of grasses, they leave the culm and consequently 

 the seed unmolested. 



From the Leghorn straw, hats of a most durable kind 

 are made, and recently, one of the most common of our 

 grasses, has been made subservient to the same useful 

 purposes. 



In northern countries, grasses are never large, being 

 always destroyed at the approach of winter, but as we 

 proceed towards the equator, they attain to a greater 

 size and a greater age. There we find the useful Cane 

 and the still more lofty Reed, both surpassed by an 

 Asiatic grass, Panicum arborescent whose culm we are 

 told, is sometimes eighty or an hundred feet in length.* 



The peculiar stem of the Palm tree was formerly re- 

 garded as a distinct variety, and denominated Stipe, but 

 as the term has been restricted to other organs and other 

 plants, there is no reason why it should retain a place 

 in this chapter. The peculiar stalks of leaves and 

 flowers are rather to be regarded as appendages, an^ 

 as such they will be described. 



* Barton's Elements. 



