GRAMINACES. - "733 
p, p, and 1108, p); these scales also are occasionally absent. 
Stamens 1—6, usually 3 (figs. 1108-1110) ; filaments capillary 
(figs. 505 and 1109) ; anthers 2-celled, versatile (figs. 500 and 
601). Ovary superior (fig. 1108), 
l-celled, with a solitary ascending Fra. 1105. 
ovule ; stigmas feathery or hairy (figs. 
601 and 1108). Fruit a caryopsis 
(figs. 704 and 705). Seed with mealy 
albumen (fig. 704, a); embryo lenti- 
cular (fig. 1111), lying on one side of 
the base of the albumen (jig. 708, ¢, 
ee | 
: Diagnosis.—Leaves alternate, with 
split sheaths, and a ligule at the base 
of the lamina. Flowers generally ar- 
ranged in spikelets or locust, or 
rarely solitary. Flowers glumaceous ; 
paleze usually two in each flower. 
Stamens hypogynous, few, usually 
3, with capillary filaments, and ver- 
satile anthers. Ovary superior, with 
a solitary ascending ovule ; stigmas 
feathery orhairy. Fruit a caryopsis. 
Seed with mealy albumen, with the 
embryo on one side at the base. 
Distribution and Numbers. — _ __.. 
Grasses are universally distributed '”’; ihe Cae ee 
over the globe. In temperate and pratense), bearing a leaf with 
cold climates they are herbaceous Parallel veins, and a Split 
and of moderate height, while in ee 
tropical countries they become shrubby and arborescent, and 
sometimes grow to the height of 50 or 60 feet. Grasses usually 
grow together in large masses, and thus form the verdure of 
great tracts of soil, and hence have been termed social plants. 
Illustrative Genera :—Panicum, Linn. ; Anthoxanthum, Linn. ; 
Phleum, Linn. ; Agrostis, Linn.; Dactylis, Linn. ; Bromus, 
Linn. There are over 4,000 species. 
Properties and Uses.—Of all the orders in the Vegetable 
Kingdom this is the most important to man, as it affords the 
various fruits, commonly known as Cereal Grains, which 
_ supply the principal material of his daily bread in most coun- 
tries of the world ; besides being eminently serviceable in other 
respects, by supplying fodder for cattle, and yielding sugar and 
other very useful products. It is a remarkable fact that the 
native countries of our more important Cereals or Corn produc- 
ing plants are altogether unknown. A few of the Grasses yield 
fragrant volatile oils. Paper has long been made from the 
Bamboo in India, China, and some other parts of the world ; 
and straw is now largely employed for a like purpose in this 
