RYE 151 



axis. These are lanceolate and armed with a round, 

 tapering awn, on which are sharp teeth, pointing upward ; 

 lemmas keeled to their base and with stiff hairs on the 

 keel except at the base; on each side of the keel two 

 other nerves. 



The palea is about the same length as the lemma but 

 is blunt and two-keeled. It is smooth throughout and 

 flat, while midway between the keels is a small linear 

 groove. Next above and opposite the palea are the two 

 small delicate scales or lodicules. These are oblique 

 ovate, membranous, and ciliated above, fleshy below with 

 a membranous outer margin (Fig. 49). 



142. The flower is placed above and between the 

 lemma and palea. It consists of 3 stamens placed above 

 the ovary which is surmounted by two sessile, feathery 

 stigmas. The anthers are yellow to dull, greenish brown, 

 narrow-linear, notched at tip and base, about 10 to 

 12 mm. long, being three or four times as long as the 

 anthers of wheat. Each is attached below the middle 

 to the slender, distinct, upward-tapering filament. At the 

 time of blooming the thin-walled cells of the filaments 

 elongate rapidly and the anthers are elevated. On be- 

 coming free the anthers reverse their position or tip over 

 and the pollen escapes to the wind from slits in the upper 

 and outer edges, a process provided for by the peculiar 

 attachment of anther and filament. 



The ovary is smooth, with a thick, hairy terminal 

 cushion. The two feathery stigmas are about twice 

 as long as the ovary on the apex of which they are 

 borne. 



143. The kernel when ripe extends more or less beyond 

 the glumes, owing to the rather small size of the glumes 

 and their spreading position. It is long in proportion to 



