THE MONOCOTYLEDONES 



2083 



sessile, the other pedicelled, those of each pair often dissimilar. 

 Spikelets two-flowered, with the lower flower male or barren, 

 the upper hermaphrodite or female; falling entire at maturity. 

 Glumes more or less rigid and firmer than the outer paleae, the 

 lower always longer than the spikelets. Paleae membranous, or 

 hyaline, the upper having a geniculate awn arising from the two- 

 lobed tip. Inner paleae shorter than the outer, frequently the 

 outer or both suppressed. Lodicules usually two. Stamens 

 three, rarely one or two. 



There are about eighty genera included in this tribe, which are almost 

 completely confined to tropical and warm temperate regions, where they 

 form an important part of the savannah grasslands. A number are of 

 economic importance. First in importance is the genus Sacchanim with 

 twelve species, including S. officinarum (Sugar Cane) (Fig. 2019), which 



Fig. 2019. — Sdcclidrum officiiKinim. Suf^ar Cane. Photograph 

 supphed by courtesy of the Imperial Institute. 



may be a native of tropical eastern Asia, but has now become so widely 

 cultivated that its origin is lost. There is an underground rhizome, from 



