The Botany of Hlngkam. 133 



panicea, L. 



Pennsylvania, Lain. 



varia, Muhl. 



stipata, Muhl. 



vuloinohlea, Mx. 



rosea, Sehk. 



muricata. L. 



Muhlenbergii, Sckh. 



echinata, Murr. var. cephalantha, Bailey. 



echinata, Murr. var. microstachys, Boeckl. 



cauescens, L. 



trisperma, Dewey. 



broraoides, Schk. 



scoparia, Schk. 



silicea, Olney. 



stramiuea, Willd. var. aperta, Boott. 



straminea, Willd. var. fceuea, Torr. 



90. G-RAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



All order of plants growing all over the world, but most preva- 

 lent in the temperate zones, where they cover the ground with a 

 low turf. Tn the tropics they rise to the stature of trees, as in 

 the bamboos, and grow in an isolated manner, never forming a 

 turf. This family, of about four thousand species, is of all the 

 orders of plants the most useful to man. It comprehends all the 

 grains, the farinaceous seeds of which form a chief part of human 

 food, and the grasses furnish a very great proportion of the fodder 

 upon which cattle live. Sugar is the product of a grass. The 

 malt, and many spirituous liquors are made from fruit of some of 

 the species. Many are used in the arts and a few yield oil. 



Only one species has been supposed to be poisonous, and the 

 best authorities consider the supposition erroneous. 



Paspalum, L. 



setaceum, Mx. 



Panicum, L. 



filiforrne, L. 

 glabrum, Gaudin. 

 sanguinale, L. Crab-grass, 

 agrostoides, Muhl. 

 proliferum. Lam. 

 capillare, L. 

 virgatum, L. 

 latifolium, L. 

 clandestinum, L. 

 dichotomum, L. 



numerous varieties, 

 depauperatum, Muhl. 

 Crus-galli, L. Barn -yard Grass. 



