70 BOTANY. 



Grlumes more delicate than the palese, palese more or less coriaceous or 

 chartaceous, most frequently awnless ; the lower concave. Caryopsis 

 compressed parallel with the embryo. 



Tribe 11. Phalaridem (of Kunth). Spikelets hermaphrodite, polygamous, 

 rarely monoecious, sometimes one-flowered, with or without the rudiment 

 of another .superior flower ; sometimes two-flowered, the two flowers her- 

 maphrodite or male ; sometimes two- or three-flowered, terminal flower fer- 

 tile, the others incomplete. Glumes most generally equal. Paleae or glu- 

 melles often lustrous, and hardened with the fruit. Styles or stigmata most 

 generally elongated. 



The principal genera are Alopecurus, Phleum. Holcus, Phalaris, An- 

 thoxanthus, Crypsis, «fee. Zea mays or Indian corn likewise belongs to this 

 tribe. 



Tribe 12. Oryzecb : the Rice Tribe. Spikelets unifloral, glumes fre- 

 quently Avanting, or two to three floral ; one or two lower flowers unipa- 

 leaceous, neutral ; the terminal flower fertile. Paleae stiffly chartaceous ; 

 stamens one to six. 



It is in this tribe that we find the genus Oryza, one species of which, 0. 

 sativa, furnishes the rice of commerce. This is represented in jtl. 55, fig. 

 9, where a to c exhibit an entire plant cut into three parts ; d is the mountain 

 rice, by some considered as a separate species under the name of 0. 

 montana ; e, the flower ; /, two grains of the mountain rice ; g^ a carA'opsis 

 of the common rice ; h to A", hulled grains ; Z, a caryopsis of the common 

 rice. The original abode of the rice plant is to be found in Southern Asia, 

 thence having been transplanted to various parts of the globe. There are 

 three varieties of rice known in commerce : 1, the Egyptian rice, white and 

 coarse grained, often mixed with salt to keep off insects ; 2, the American 

 rice, principally from the Carolinas, like the preceding, but clearer, and 

 preferred above all the other varieties ; 3, the Italian rice, generally shorter 

 and thicker than the rest, with furrowed grains. Other genera are Leersia 

 and Zizania, the latter furnishing the wild rice of the northern lakes (L. 

 aquatica). 



Order 2. Cyperace^, the Sedge Family. Flowers hermaphrodite or 

 unisexual, generally without a perianth. Each flower furnished with a 

 solitary bract (glume or scale). These bracts are imbricated upon a common 

 axis, and the lowermost are often empty. Occasionally they inclose two or 

 three opposite membranous bracts or glumes. (In the female flower of 

 Carex, the two inner bracts receive the name of Perigynium.) Stamens 

 hypogynous, definite, one to twelve ; anthers dithecal, innate. Ovary one- 

 celled, often surrounded by hypogynous bristles (setae), which are probably 

 abortive filaments ; ovule erect, anatropal ; style single, two- to three-cleft ; 

 stigmas undivided, sometimes bifid. Fruit a crustaceous or bony achaenium 

 or nut ; embryo lenticular, inclosed within the base of fleshy or farinaceous 

 albumen ; plumule inconspicuous. Grass-like herbs with fibrous roots. 

 Their stems are solid, often without joints, sometimes creeping, frequently 

 angular. The leaves are narrow, and their sheaths are entire, not slit. 

 They are found in all quarters of the globe, and in various localities, from 

 70 



