GLUMACEiE 387 



GLUMACEiE (Summary). 



{Introductory Volume^ p. ^^S-) 



The plants included in this series have flowers with 

 no perianth, or if represented it consists of bristles or 

 less frequently of scales. The flowers are in spikes, 

 in the axils of overlapping glumes or bracts. The 

 ovary is one-celled with a single ovule. There are 

 two to three styles or stigmas. The seeds contain 

 endosperm, and the embryo is small. 



There are two groups embraced in this series, the 

 Cyperaceae or Sedges, and the Graminaceae or Grasses. 

 The flow^ers maybe unisexual or bisexual in the former. 

 In the Grasses the flowers are usually complete. 

 There is no perianth, or mere bristles, in the Sedges. 

 It consists of two scales in the Grasses, or lodicules. 

 There are one to three stamens in Sedges, three as a 

 rule in Grasses. In the former the anthers are fixed 

 by the base, in the Grasses they are versatile. In 

 both the ovary is unilocular. In the Sedges there is 

 a single style, and two to three papillose stigmas. 

 In the Grasses the stigmas are one to two and hairy 

 or feathery. The fruit is flattened or three-angled 

 in Sedges, rounded or grooved on one side in Grasses. 

 The embryo is below the endosperm in the Sedge 

 group, at the side in Grasses. 



In Sedges the stem is solid, three-angled, in Grasses 

 usually hollow, except at the nodes. The sheath is 

 entire in the former, split in the latter. 



