GRAMINE.E. 539 



been divided into numerous sections, founded on the number of flowers 

 in a spikelet, their hermaphrodite, unisexual, or polygamous nature, 

 the number and form of the different sets of bracts, and the nature of 

 the fruit. Lindley enumerates 291 genera, including about 3800 

 species. Examples Oryza, Zea, Phalaris, Panicum, Stipa, Agrostis, 

 Arundo, Echinaria, Chloris, Avena, Bromus, Festuca, Bambusa, 

 Lolium, Triticum, Hordeum, Nardus, Rottboellia, Andropogon, Sac- 

 charum. 



1098. This is one of the most important orders in the vegetable 

 kingdom, whether we regard it as supplying food for man, or herbage 

 for animals. To the former division belong the nutritious cereal grains, 

 as Wheat (Triticum}, Oats (A vena), Barley (Hordeum), Rye (Secede), 

 Eice (Oryza), Maize (Zea), Guinea-corn and Millet (Sorghum and 

 Panicum) ; to the latter, the various pasture grasses, as Rye-grass 

 (Lolium), Timothy-grass (Phleum), Meadow-grass (Poa), Cock's-foot- 

 grass (Dactylis}, Sweet Vernal-grass (Anthoxanthum), Fescue (Festuca), 

 Dog's-tail-grass (Cynosurus), &c. The grains of many other grasses 

 are used for food. Zizania aquatica supplies a kind of rice in Canada, 

 Setaria germanica yields German millet, Panicum miliaceum gives a 

 kind of millet in India, and Andropogon Sorghum has been sent to this 

 country under the name of Durra, an Indian gram. Phalaris cana- 

 riensis is the source of the common Canary seed. The cereal grains 

 have been so extensively distributed by man, that all traces of their 

 native country are lost. They seem to be in many instances examples 

 of permanent varieties or races kept up by cultivation. Their grain 

 or caryopsis contains a large amount of starch (figs. 35, 36) and gluten. 

 The grasses used for fodder in some parts of the world attain a large 

 size, such as Anthistiria australis, the Kangaroo-grass of New Holland, 

 Tripsacum dactyloides, the Gama-grass of Mexico, and Dactylis ccespi- 

 tosa, the Tussac-grass of the Falkland islands. Some of these are five 

 or six feet in height, and are nevertheless sufficiently delicate to be 

 used as food for animals. The Tussac has been introduced into this 

 country, and it thrives well in peaty soils within the influence of the 

 sea spray. It promises to be a valuable grass in the Hebrides of Scot- 

 land. 



1099. Sugar is a valuable product obtained from many grasses. It 

 has been procured in Italy from Sorghum saccharatum, sweet Sorgho ; 

 in China, from Saccharum sinense; in Brazil, from Gynerium saccha- 

 roides; in the West Indies, from Saccharum violaceum ; and in many 

 other parts of the world, from S. officinarum. The last two are com- 

 monly known as Sugar-cane, and they are generally considered as 

 varieties of a single species, Saccharum officinarum, which is now widely 

 spread over various parts of the world. Six or eight pounds of the 

 saccharine juice of the plant yield one pound of raw sugar. The fol- 

 lowing were the imports of sugar into Great Britain in 1848 : 



