REPORT ON GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS. 193 
Bristles—Short, stiff hairs. 
Bulbous—The base of the stem thickened so as to make a hard, roundish 
mass, as in Timothy grass (Phleum pratense). 
Cespitose—Growing in bunches or tufts. 
Cauline—Relating to or growing from the stem or culm. 
Ciliate—Having the margin fringed with hairs. ' 
Culm—The stem or straw of a grass; when the stem creeps upon or 
* under the ground it is called a rhizoma. 
Decumbent—Leaning on the ground at the lower part but rising at the 
top. 
Digitate—Branching finger-like from a common center, as the spikes of 
Crab-grass (Panicum sanguinale). 
Diecious—The two sexes separated and growing on different plants, as 
in Bufialo grass (Buchloé dactyloides). 
Entire—Without notches on the margin. 
Exserted—Protruded beyond the flower, as the stamens of grasses 
usually are when in bloom. 
Fertile—Producing fruit. 
Fibrous—Composed of thread-like fibers, as the roots of most grasses. 
Floret—aA little flower; a pair of palets with the inclosed stamens and 
pistil. There may be many of these in a spikelet. 
Glabrous—Smooth; destitute of hairs or roughness. 
Glumes—The outer or lower pair of bracts or scales in a spikelet, and in- 
closing one or more, sometimes many, flowers or florets. 
Hirsute—Rough-haired, bearded. 
Indigenous—Growing naturally in a country. 
Internode—The space between the nodes or joints. 
Keel—A sharp ridge along the middle of a glume or palet resembling 
the keel of a boat. 
Lamina or Blade—The extended part of a leaf, generally open and flat, 
but sometimes rolled inward longitudinally, when it is said to be 
involute. 
Tigule—A. small leaf-like appendage, usually thin and semi-transparent 
(membranaceous), found at the lower part of the leaf or at the top 
of the sheath. It is said to be entire when there are no divisions 
in its outline; bifid, when it is divided at the apex into two parts; 
lacerated, when it is cut or divided on the margin; truncated, when 
the upper part terminates abruptly in a transverse line, as if cut 
off. 
Membranaceous—Thin and translucent, like a membrane. 
Nerves—Rib-like elevations on the leaves, glumes, and palets. 
Neutral flower—One having neither stamens nor pistil. 
Nodes—Knots in the culm where the leaves are given off. 
Oblong—Longer than wide, with the sides nearly parallel. 
Obtuse—Blunt pointed. 
Ovary—tThe portion of a flower containing the ovules or seeds. 
Palet or Palea—The inner scales or bracts inclosing the stamens and 
pistil. 
Panicle—The flowering part of the stem or culm of grasses, usually 
composed of a number of series or whorls of branches or rays, ~ 
which are again divided into secondary branches. These may be 
short and close to the stem, or they may be long and spreading. 
Perennial—Living for more than two years; indefinitely. 
Pistii—The central organ of a fertile flower, usually consisting of an 
ovary, Style, and stigma. 
Pollen—The fertilizing powder contained in the anthers, 
13 AGR 
