The Book of Grasses 



on the way toward a grass-like 

 appearance. The three stamens 

 of many grasses suggest the 

 characteristic, three-parted form 

 of the true Hhes, while the flower- 

 ing scale and palet of each grass 

 blossom are a reminder of the lily 

 calyx, the two green keels of the 

 palet suggesting that two divisions of the 

 calyx have been merged in one. 



Our wind-fertilized flowers are represen- 

 ted chiefly by the grasses and sedges, and 

 by early blooming trees and shrubs. Such 

 flowers are small and produce no nectar. 

 They have little fragrance, and their chief 

 colouring frequently appears in the large an- 

 thers which are so hung on hair-like filaments 

 as to shake out pollen grains on every breeze. 

 Spikelets. — The flowers of grasses are 

 borne in spikelets which vary in size and 

 which are composed of one, several, or 



many flowers. The short stem, on which 



the flowers of a spikelet are placed, is 



known as the rachilla; this is sometimes 



prolonged, and, under the microscope, may 



be seen as a tiny thread lying outside the 



uppermost flower. Spikelets are arranged in 



spikes or panicles. In bloom the lower flow- 

 ers of the spikelets bloom before the others, 



as the spikelets bloom from below upward, 



but in panicles the uppermost spikelets are 



the first to open, since the flowering-heads 



bloom downward, and often the upper 



branches of a panicle are widely spread with 



open flowers while the lower branches remain 



erect and closely appressed to the stem. 



Scales. — Instead of flowering-leaves of sepals and petals the 



grasses show bracts, called scales, or glumes, surrounding each 



flower. The two lower scales of each spikelet are usually empty, 



and in the axil of each succeeding scale (except sometimes the 



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