GRAMINEAZ—GRASSES 53 
as well as by its broader green foliage, and much larger inflated fruit. Bogs 
aud marshes, not common ; flowering in June. 
66. Lesser Common Sedge (C. paludésa).—Fertile spikelets cylin- 
- drical, slender, obtuse ; glumes of the barren spike obtuse; bracts long and 
leafy, without sheaths ; fruit oblong, tapering to a point. A tall plant from 
2—3 feet high, with broad keeled leaves, which, as well as the stem, are 
rough. Common on the banks of rivers and canals ; flowering in May. 
67. Great Common Sedge (C. ripéria).—Fertile spikelets somewhat 
crowded, broadly cylindrical, tapering to a point which is often barren; 
glumes of the barren spikelet tapering to a long point; bracts long and 
broad, without sheaths ; fruit oblong, tapering to a point. Taller (3—5 feet) 
and stouter than the last, with much broader leaves, which, as well as the 
stem, are rough. The stem is leafy, and the large dark brown spikelets are 
crowded towards the summit of the stem. Common on the banks of rivers 
and canals ; flowering in May. 
Order Cl. GRAMINEA*—GRASSES 
The flowers of Grasses are combined to form spikelets, which in turn are 
variously associated to form spikes, racemes, or panicles. A single spikelet 
usually includes two empty or flowerless glumes. Above or within these 
rises a delicate stalk known as the rachilla, bearing one or more boat-shaped 
glumes which normally contain flowers, and are therefore always referred to 
as the flowering glumes, although sometimes they are empty. The flowers 
may contain both stamens and pistils, or only one kind of these organs, and 
are known as perfeet or imperfect flowers accordingly. Within the flowering 
glume will be found a flat scale (the palea) with incurved edges, and often 
marked with two nerves. Opposite the palea are two more minute scales 
(lodicules). These are absent in some species, whilst in others they are 
increased in number ; with the palea they appear to represent the perianth 
of other orders of plants. There are usually 3 stamens, though the 
number is reduced or increased in various genera; the filament hair-like, 
and the 2-celled anther so poised on its tip (versatile) that it is readily moved 
by slight air-waves. The ovary is always 1-celled, with a variable style, but 
the 2 stigmas are always feather-like to catch the wind-borne pollen. There 
is only 1 ovule or seed-egg, and as this develops into the seed it is usually 
attached to the ovary, and this often adheres to the palea, sometimes to the 
flowering glume also. 
When the spikelets are seated along a common stalk (rachis) without any 
foot-stalks (pedicels), the inflorescence is termed a spike, as in the Upright 
Sea Lyme-grass. When the spikelets all turn one way, it is a one-sided 
spike, as in the Mat-grass. When the spikelets are arranged on branches, it 
is a panicle ; and this may either be spreading, as in the Quaking-grass, or it 
may be so close as to be spike-like, and is then a spiked panicle, as in the 
Vernal-grass ; or the spikelets may be on undivided stalks, when it is racemed, 
as in Heath-grass. The stem of the Grasses is often called a culm; it is 
cylindrical, or nearly so (never triangular), hollow, and jointed, the joints 
