458 CXLII. GKAMINE^. 



pointless, herbaceous, mauy-uerved. Flowering glume ab- 

 ruptly setigerous from its entire apex, rarely pointless ; palea 

 flat, 2-nerved, with inflexed edges, eiliate on the nerves. — 

 Nees^ I.e. p. 456, and p. 457 suh Trachynia. 



DifTering from Bromiis cliiefly in innorescence. — 3 Cape species. 



In the subgenus Trachi/nia, the spikelets are generally few in number, 

 with more tlian 10 flowers in each, and ai'e often more flattened than in or- 

 dinary Brachypodium. 



89. HORDEUM, Linn. 



Spikelets spiked, set three together on a toothed, jointed 

 rachis, 1-flowered, the middle spikelet sfertile, the lateral ste- 

 rile. Outer glumes 2, subopposite, subulate-aristate, narrow, 

 rigid. Flowering glume subcoriaceous, convex, tapering into a 

 long, straight, terminal awn ; palea oblong or lanceolate, 2- 

 nerved, the nerves raised and eiliate. Grain mostly adhering 

 to the flowering glume and palea. — Nees, I.e. p. 361. 



Wild Barley ; H. Capensis, peculiar to the Cape, and H. murinum, a 

 cosmopolitan species, found about roads and old wails, in seaport towns. 



Class III. ACOTTLEDONES. 



Order CXLIII. FILICES.* 



Fructification usually minute, consisting of microscopic 

 spores contained in very small, almost microscopic, capsules 

 (sporangia), which are 1-celled and gathered together in heaps 

 (sori) of various shapes on the under side of the leafy portion 

 of the plant (called the frond), or arranged in a separate spike 

 or panicle, or joined together in concrete masses. Sori often 

 enclosed in or hidden under an involucre, which may consist 

 of a membranous scale or cup, or of the reflexed margin of 

 the frond. Capsules mostly stalked and surrounded by an in- 

 complete jointed ring, but sometimes the ring is absent or 

 confined to the apex of the capsule. — In most of the South 

 African species the caudex or main stem is but slightly ele- 

 vated, but in the tribe Cyatliece, represented by tAvo Cape spe- 

 cies, it is woody, and the trunk often reaches a considerable 

 height. In all but OpliioglossecB the vernation is circinate, the 

 young frond being rolled inwards like the head of a crosier. 



Suborder 1. Qleichenieae. Vernation circinate. Soi'i dorsal, of few 

 capsules, which are sessile, open vertically, and have a broad, transverse, 

 complete ring. 

 The only genus 1. Gleichenia. 



* By J. G. Baker, F.L.S. 



