134 



THE STORY OF THE PLANTS. 



rule the stamens of grasses hang out freely to 

 the wind, and the stigmas are feathery and most 

 graceful in outline (Fig. 31). The flowers are 

 usually collected in spikes like that of wheat, or 

 in loose clusters like oats; they frequently hang 

 over in pendulous bunches. Their success may 



Fig. 30. — A flower of wheat, Fig. 31.— Flower of wheat, with 



with its parts divided. <2, the calyx of two chaffy scales 



the carpel and stigmas ; b^ removed This shows the 



the stamens ; c, the petals, arrangement of petals, sta- 



very minute ; d and e, the mens, and ovary, 

 calyx. 



be gathered from the fact that almost all the 

 great plains in the world, such as the American 

 prairies, the Pampas, and the Steppes, are covered 

 with grasses; while even in hilly countries the 

 valleys and downs are also largely clad with 

 smaller and more delicate species. No plants 

 assume so great a variety of divergent forms; 

 the total number of kinds of grasses can hardly 

 be estimated ; in Britain alone we have more 

 than a hundred native species. 



