304 



the use of it is attended with a shedding of the hair, and even the teeth, of 

 both man and beast. Mules fed on it lose their hoofs, and fowls lay eggs 

 without shell. Its action upon the uterus is as powerful as that of the Rye 

 ergot, or perhaps more so. Ann. des Sc. 19. 279. The country name of the 

 Maize thus affected is Mais peladero. The best fodder Grasses of Europe 

 are usually dwarf species, or at least such as do not rise more than 3 or 4 

 feet above the ground, and of these the larger kinds are- apt to become hard 

 and wiry ; the most esteemed are Lolium perenne, Phleum, and Festuca 

 pratense, Cynosurus cristatus, and various species of Poa and dwarf Festuca, 

 to which should be added Anthoxanthum odoratum for its fragrance. But the 

 fodder Grasses of Brazil are of a far more gigantic stature, and perfectly 

 tender and delicate. We learn from Nees von Esenbeck, that the Caapim 

 de Angola of Brazil, Panicum spectabile, grows 6 or 7 feet high ; while other 

 equally gigantic species constitute the field crops on the banks of the 

 Amazons. 



Examples. It is no easy matter to decide upon the arrangement of 

 Grasses which is most likely to be eventually adopted, when we find such 

 men as Brown, Kunth, Palisot, Link, and Trinius, advocating different 

 methods ; and it would be quite beyond my purpose to give all of them here. 

 Upon the whole, the following, which is that employed by Nees v. Esenbeck 

 in his excellent account of the Grasses of Brazil, has the best prospect of 

 becoming established among botanists : — 



1. Paniceae, Kunth. (Panicum, Paspalus, Cenchrus.) 



2. Olyrese, Kunth. (Luziola, Pharus, Olyra.) 



3. Saccharinese, Kunth. (Saccharum, Andropogon, Anthistiria.) 



4. Stipeae, Kunth. (Stipa, Choetaria.) 



5. Agrostese, Kunth. ' (Phalaris, Vilfa, Agrostis, Spartina.) 



6. Chloridese, Kunth. (Pappophorum, Chloris, Eleusine.) 



7. Hordeacese, Kunth. (Lolium, Triticum, Secale.) 



8. Festucacese, Kunth. 



§ \. Avenacese, Kunth. (Avena.) 



§ 2. Arundinaceae, Kunth. (Arundo, Gynerium.) 



§ 3. Festucece, Kunth. (Cynosurus, Bromus, Poa.) 



9. OryzetE, Kunth. (Leersia, Oryza.) 

 10. Bambuseso, Kunth. 



\ 1. Triglossae, Link. (Arundinaria.) 



§ 2. BambuscEE verae, Nees. (Bambusa, Streptochgsta. 



CCLXII. CYPERACEiE. The Sedge Tribe. 



CyperoidEjE, Jvss. Gen. 2«. (1789); Link Ilnrt. Botanic. 1. (1827). — CvPEnACE^, 

 R. Brown Proilr. 212. (1810); Lcsliboudois Essai; Dec. and Duly, 483. (1828); 

 Lindl. Synops. 278. (1829.) 



Diagnosis. Glumaceous monocotyledons, with angular stems, entire 

 leaf-sheaths, and an undivided embryo included within the albumen. 



Anomalies. The ghmics of Carex and Uncinia arc united by their 

 margins, so as to form an external covering to the })istillum. 



Essential Character Flou-crs liermaphrodite or unisexual, consistint^ of imbri- 

 cated solitary bractea;, very rarely enclosing,' other opijosite bractea- at rifclit aiif,'les with the 

 first, called (jlumes. Perianthhim none, unless tlie j^diimes, when present, he so considered, 

 or the hypogynous setae. Stamens hypogynous, definite, 1, 2, 3,4, 5, (», 7, 10, 12 ; anthers 



