618 
GRAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 
shorter than the twisted awn; the sterile spikelets small and very 
imperfect, or commonly reduced to a mere plumose-hairy pedicel. lj. 
(Andropogon nutans, L.) — Dry soil, common. August. 
S. saccharAtum, Pers., is the well-known Broom-Corn. 
S. cernuum, the Guinea Corn, and S. vulgAre, the Indian Mil¬ 
let, are sometimes cultivated for the grain. 
Zea Mays, L., the Indian Corn, is a monoecious Paniceous Grass. 
Series II. CRYPTOGAMOUS or FLOWERLESS 
PLANTS. 
Vegetables destitute of proper flowers (stamens 
and pistils), and producing seeds of homogeneous 
structure (called spores ), in which there is no embryo 
or plantlet manifest anterior to germination. 
Class III. ACROGENS. 
Cryptogamous plants with a distinct axis (stem and 
branches), growing from the apex only, containing woody 
fibre and vessels (especially ducts), and usually with dis¬ 
tinct foliage. 
Order 130. EQUISETACEflE. (Horsetail Family.) 
Leafless plants , with rush-like hollow and jointed stems , 
arising from running rootstocks , terminated by the fructi¬ 
fication in the form of a cone or spike , which is composed 
of shield-shaped stalked scales bearing the spore-cases un¬ 
derneath. — Comprises solely the genus 
1. EQUISETTM, L. Horsetail. Scouring Rush. 
Spore-cases ( sporangia , thecce ) 6 or 7, adhering to the under 
side of the angled shield-shaped scales of the spike, 1-celled, open¬ 
ing down the inner side and discharging the numerous loose spores. 
To the base of these spores are attached 4 thread-like and club- 
shaped elastic filaments ( elaters ), which roll up closely around 
them when moist, and uncoil when dry. — Stems striate-grooved, 
