CHAPTER V 

 THE STRUCTURE OF GRASSES 



In order to understand the descriptions of the grasses 

 set forth in the following pages, it will be necessary to 

 learn something of the more important parts and organs 

 of the grass plant. 



Grasses are distinguished from other plants by the 

 jointed stem, and the long narrow parallel-veined leaves 

 placed in two opposite rows along the stem. The struc- 

 ture of the flowers is characteristic and will be explained 

 in a separate paragraph. Typical grasses are exempli- 

 fied by timothy, bluegrass, and wheat. Other members 

 of the grass family are certain larger plants that are not 

 always associated with the typical forms mentioned 

 above. Among such are corn, sorghum, sugar cane, and 

 bamboos. Some plants belonging to other families 

 resemble grasses in having long narrow blades. Among 

 these may be mentioned sedges, rushes, and certain kinds 

 of lilies. In all these the structure of the flowers is 

 different. But aside from the structure of the flowers, 

 the sedges, the family which most nearly resembles 

 grasses, may be distinguished by the arrangement of the 

 leaves. As stated above the leaves of grasses are ar- 

 ranged along the round or somewhat flattened stem in 

 two rows and are said to be 2-ranked. In sedges the 

 leaves are arranged in three ranks and the stem is often 

 3-sided or 3-angled. 



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