ORDER DIGYNIA. 203 



means bearing shoots. Some others are propagated in a man- 

 ner not less wonderful ; for the seeds begin to grow while in 

 the flower itself, and new plants are there formed, with little 

 leaves and roots ; they then fall to the ground, where they 

 take root. , Such grasses are called vivip'-arous, which signifies 

 producing their offspring alive, either by bulbs instead of seeds, 

 or by seeds germinating on the plant. The seeds of the 

 grasses have but one lobe, or are not naturally divided into 

 parts, like the apple seed and the bean ; therefore these are 

 said to have but one cotyledon. 



The stems of gramineous plants, like those of all the mono- 

 cotyledons, are of that kind which grow internally, or from the 

 centre outward, and are therefore called endogenous. 



With regard to the duration of the grass-like plants, some are 

 annual; as, wheat, rye, and oats, whose roots die after the 

 grain or seed is matured. The meadow grasses are perennial ; 

 their herbage dying in autumn, and the roots sending out new 

 leaves in the spring. The family of grasses is one of the most 

 numerous, the most important and the most natural of all the 

 vegetable tribes ; the plants which compose it, seem, at the first 

 glance, to be so similar that it would appear impossible to sepa- 

 rate them into species, much less into genera ; but scientific re- 

 search, and close observation present us with differences, suffi- 

 cient to form a basis, for the establishment of a great number of 

 genera. 



The essential character of the oat (Avena), consists in the 

 jointed, twisted awn or beard which grows from the back of the 

 blossom ; the oat is also remarkable for its graceful pannicle, or 

 the manner in wnich its flowers grow upon their stalks. 



The rye (Secale), has two flowers within the same husk. 

 The wheat ( Triticwn), has three flowers within the same husk ; 

 the interior valve of the corolla of the wheat is usually beard- 

 ed. The filaments in the rye and wheat are exsert, that is, 

 they hang out beyond the corolla ; from which circumstance, 

 these grains are more exposed to injury from heavy rains than 

 those whose filaments are shorter. 



Perhaps, in the whole of the vegetable kingdom, although 

 there are many plants of much greater brilliancy of appear- 

 ance, there are none which are so important to man as the 

 grass family. Linnaeus, who was distinguished for the liveli- 

 ness of his fancy, no less than the clearness of his reasoning 

 powers, seemed to delight in tracing analogies between plants 

 and mankind ; establishing among the former a kind of aris- 

 tocracy ; he called grasses the plebeians of the vegetable king- 

 dom. To them, indeed, belong neither brilliancy of appear- 



Comparison of Linnaeus. 



