128 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 
ropogon), or the margins may be greatly enlarged (Ixo- 
phorus). The palea is reduced to a nerveless scale or may 
be obsolete in Agrostis and in species of Andropogon. 
The palea usually falls from the rachilla together with 
the lemma but may be persistent upon the axis (e. g., 
Eragrostis, Fig. 51). 
159. The lodicules are small organs found at the base 
of the floret, outside the stamens. They are usually 2 
in number, standing in front of the lemma, close together. 
A third lodicule is present in a few genera and is placed 
in front of the palea. In the anomalous bamboo genus 
Ochlandra there are several lodicules. The function of the 
lodicules is to open the floret at anthesis. They become 
turgid and thus spread the lemma and palea apart, later 
collapsing and allowing the floret to close by its own 
elasticity. The lodicules are interpreted by some to be 
homologous with the divisions of a perianth of which only 
2 divisions have usually persisted. 
160. The stamen consists of a delicate filiform fila- 
ment and a 2-celled anther, opening by longitudinal slits. 
The anthers are basifixed but so deeply sagittate, as to 
appear versatile. There are usually 3 stamens, 1 standing 
in front of the lemma and 1 opposite each edge of the palea. 
Sometimes there is a second whorl inside of the first and 
alternating with it, making 6 stamens (most bamboos, 
many Oryzew). There are various departures from these 
numbers. There may be only 2 (Diarrhena), or only 1 
(Cinna), rarely 4 in 2 whorls, and in certain anomalous 
genera more than 6 (Pariana, Luziola, Ochlandra). The 
filaments are more or less connate in a few bamboos and 
in Streptocheta. 
From the standpoint of evolution, the species with 6 stamens 
in 2 whorls probably represent a more primitive form as this structure 
