12 



Botanical Section 



[PT i 



(B) FLORAL ORGANS. These consist of the flowering-culm, 

 with the more or less branched collection of flowers borne upon 

 it and forming the inflorescence. The inflorescence varies in 

 form and structure very much indeed in the different genera, 

 but it is always composed of a varying number of partial inflores- 



Fig. 15. Seven-flowered spikelet of the naked-grained Oat (Avena nuda) slightly 

 enlarged. Note the alternate arrangement of the glumes and flowers (right to 

 left, from below upwards). 



cences called spikelets, which again are composed of one or more 

 flowers with their enveloping bracts (Figs. 14 and 15). We will 

 describe the structure of the flower first. 



The Flower. The flower of our grasses is composed typically of 

 one carpel and three stamens (see Figs. 16 and 17). The stamens 



