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CHAPTEE XVIII. 



"'Let the earth 



Put forth the verdant Grass, herb yielding seed, 

 And fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, 

 Whose seed is in itself upon the earth.' 

 He scarce had said, when the bare earth, till then 

 Desert and void, unsightly, unadorned, 

 Brought forth the tender Grass, whose verdure clad 

 Her universal face with pleasant green." 



MILTOH. 



A GBASS is the simplest form of a perfect plant. A thin stem, 

 clothed with alternate leaves, constituting sheaths to guard the 

 fast-growing buds, a few flowers collected at the end of the 

 branches, a very few stamens, and a single seed, constitute the 

 whole plant. Yet, simple as these parts are, the various genera 

 are very clearly distinguished, so that this family is one of the 

 easiest to understand. That part of the flower which is gene- 

 rally called calyx is termed the glume in Grasses, and palese 

 stand for petals. The bristle often accompanying the flower 

 of Grass is called an awn ; the stamens are generally three 

 in number, and the styles two, which are often beautifully 

 feathered. The roots are in all cases fibrous. The stem is 

 generally cylindrical, though sometimes compressed, varying 

 in length from two inches, as in the Sand Cat's-tail, to eighty 

 feet, as in the Bamboo. The leaves are one to each knot in the 

 stem, sheathing at the base, and slit on one side. The male 

 and female flowers are generally on one spike, nearly always on 

 one plant. The glumes are generally two to each spikelet, the 

 outer being the largest ; but sometimes there is only one, and 

 there are cases where both are absent. The embryo lies at the 

 side of the lower part of the seed. 



