glumacej:. 701 



Fig. 1084. Fig. 1085. Fig. 1086. Fig. 1087. 



Ftg.xOiA. Fertile flf) we r of the Oat, without tfaa palese. p.Glumeliulesk 



e. Stamens, o. OTary. s, .«. Feathery stigmas. Fig. 1085. One of the 



florets of a species of Meadow Grass (Foa pratensis^. Fig. 10S6. One 



of the florets cf the Hard Fescue Grass (,Festuca duriuscula^. Fig. 



1087. The Embryo of the Oat. a. Lateral swelling, c. Cotyledou. r. 

 Radicle. /. Slit corresponding to the plumule. 



Properties and Uses. — Gf all the orders in the Vegetable 

 Kingdom this is the most important to man, as it atifords the 

 various fruits, commonly known as the Cereal Grains, -^vhich' 

 supply the principal material of his daily bread in most countries 

 of the ■^orld : besides being eminently serviceable in other re- 

 spects, by affording fodder for cattle, and yielding sugar and 

 other useful products. It is a remarkable fact that the native 

 countries of our more important Cereals or Corn-producing 

 plants are altogether unknown. A few of the Grasses yield 

 fragrant volatile oils. Paper has long been made from the 

 Bamboo in India, &c., and straw is now largely employed for a 

 like purpose in this country and elsewhere. Almost all grasses 

 are wholesome, but one or more species of Bromus have been re- 

 puted erroneously to be purgative, and one, Lolium tiinuJenturu, 

 is said to be narcotic and poisonous. The powerful properties 

 of the latter grass may be due to its becoming ergotised, as 

 its described effects upon the system closely resemble those 

 produced by the common ergot. Some of the species serve to 

 bind together the sand on the sea-shore, and thus prevent the 

 encroachment of the sea on the neighbouring coast. . 



^gilops ov<ifa. — This grass has lately become celebrated inconsequence of 

 M. Esprit Fabre having stated that the varieties of cultivated "Wheat were 

 derived from it. This is not strictly correct, for the plants grown by il. 

 Fabre, and the grains of -^hich ultimately assumed the form of cultivated 

 "Wheat, were produced by hybridisation between a species of Triticum and 

 JJgilops ovafa, the result being the formation of a variety of J^gilops, called 

 ^gilops triticoiihs. The seeds of this, by cidtivation for about twelve years, 

 are said to produce a grass Like ordinary wheat. 



Andropogon. — Several species of this genus are remarkable for their- 



