j4 GRASSES. 
of fresh-blown Fox Grass or Timothy, especially 
when on some foggy morning the minute particles 
of moisture have settled upon the delicate stamens, 
giving them the appearance of being thickly studded 
with jewels ? 
We have said that many of these plants have 
jointed stems; this is observed in those whose leaves 
grow one above the other; each joint here answers 
the double purpose of giving strength to the stem 
and support to the leaf. But, in other varieties, the 
only leaves produced are what are called radical, or 
leaves growing from the root; with these the stems 
are not jointed, but receive additional strength from 
their being sometimes triangular or square, and mostly 
very fleshy and stout. 
It is a remarkable provision of Nature, that those 
plants which appear to have been designed for food, 
either bear seed in great abundance, or are supplied 
with some separate provision for reproducing them- 
selves; this is particularly noticeable in the grasses. 
Wheat,. Rye, Corn, Oats, Rice, and Barley, which 
constitute staple articles of food, all produce their 
seed in great quantities ; while in many species whose 
seed supply the wants of the birds, the roots are 
perennial and creeping, and are continually sending 
up suckers, thus increasing themselves many-fold by 
a distinct method. 
Those seeds which require to be sawn every year 
are reserved for the use of man, whose superior in- 
tellect teaches him the proper mode of rendering 
Neil got coe aes 
