HORTUS GRAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 11 



obvious are, the root, (radix) ; the straw, stern or culm, (culmus) ; 

 the leaves, (folia); the flower or husks, (Flos vel Gluma); and 

 the seed (semen). The figure of these parts varies in different spe- 

 cies : it is therefore absolutely necessary, that every variety have a 

 name, by which it may be distinguished from every other. It is 

 remarked somewhere, that the results of our reasonings must 

 needs be very confused, or even absurd, without precise ideas 

 being fixed to our words. 



I. 

 The Varieties of the Root are : * 



1 . Fibrous, {fibrosa), when the root is composed of a number of 



threads or fibres, as in most grasses. See Agrostis fascicu- 

 lar is. 



2. Creeping, (repens), when the root runs horizontally in the 



earth, and pushes up culms from the joints, as in Triticum 

 repens, Hole us mollis, S^c. 



3. Bulbous, (Jjidbosa), when the root consists of a solid substance 



of a spherical form, as in Hordeum bulbosum-f. 



II. 



The Varieties of the Straw, Stem, or Culm, are: 



1. Quite simple, (simplicissimus), without any branches, as in Me- 



lica car It lea. 



2. Simple, (simplex), that sometimes has more than one branch, 



as in Poa nemoralis. Lolium perenne ramosum, J^c. 



3. Somewhat branched, (subrarnosus), that has often several 



branches, as in Agrostis Mexicana. 



4. Erect, (erectus), when the straw stands nearly perpendicular, 



as in Alopecurus pratensis. 



5. Straight, (strictus), when the stem is quite straight, as in Tri- 



chodiuni rupestre. 



* To those who wish to enter fully into the study of Botany, I may be permit- 

 ted to recommend " An Introduction to Systematic and Physiological Botany by 

 Sir James Edward Smith, P. L. S." as adapted to aftbrd every facility. The intro- 

 ductions to Botany by Dr. Willdenow, Withering, and Thornton, may also be 

 consulted with advantage. 



f A bulb is compared to a bud under ground, producing shoots from its middle 

 or sides; the bulbs of the crocus, or hyacintii, ig not properly the root, but a part 

 of tlie stem; the fibres are the proper roots. The carrot, turnip, potatoe, &c., 

 are tuberous roots, for these have eyes formed on the surface, which particularly 

 distinguish them from bulbs properly so called. — Willdenow. 



