206 



MONOCOTYLEDONS GRAMINE.E DIAGRAM 17. 



FAMILY PALMACE.^3. 

 Palm trees are inhabitants of warm 

 countries. They sometimes grow to a 

 very great height. We have men- 

 tioned already (see p. 169) that their 

 trunk does not increase in thickness 

 with age, but only in height. It is 

 surmounted by a crown of beautiful 

 leaves which make it bend before the 

 slightest wind. The palms yield very 

 various kinds of fruit dates and cocoa- 

 nuts, for example. Their leaves are 

 very much employed for making hats, 

 mats, &c. 



Palm Tree. 



FAMILY 



This family is indisputably the most numerous of the vege- 

 table kingdom. It includes all the plants which are commonly 

 called grasses, and many others also. It furnishes man with a 

 large portion of his food in the form of cereals, which are all 

 grasses. The sugar-cane is also a plant of this family. 



Most of the Graminese must be planted annually, as they die every 

 year. Their stalk is not like that of other plants, but is hollow, 

 with knots at different intervals. A leaf grows from each knot, 

 which at first surrounds the stalk, and then spreads out from it. 

 The flower of the grasses is inconspicuous. Its centre is composed 

 of a pistil with a bifurcated extremity resembling two small and 

 very li^ht feathers. Round the pistil hang three stamens, the 

 pollen-sacs of which are supported by very fine threads. The 

 pistils and stamens compose the whole flower, they issue from 

 more or less numerous scales which are called chaff, and which 

 rcmnin round the corn. 



