S ELEMENTS OP STRUCTURAL BOTANY. 



107. Next let us inspect a specimen of the Common 

 Meadow-Grass. The inflorescence of this very common 

 grass (Fig. 105) is a greenish panicle. The spikelets (Fig. 

 106) contain from three to five flowers, and are laterally 

 compressed. The glumes are the lowest pair of scales, and 

 they are generally shorter than the flowers within them. 

 Observe the delicate whitish margin of the lower palet of 

 each flower (Fig. 107), and the thin texture of the upper 

 one. Count also, if you can, the five nerves on the lower 

 palet, and observe the two teeth at the apex of the upper 

 one. In this Grass the principal thing to notice is that 

 there are several flowers within each pair of glumes. 



108. A common pest in wheat-fields is the Grass 

 known as Chess. It is comparatively easy of examination 



on account of the size of the 

 spikelets (Fig. 108) and flow- 

 ers. The spikelets form a 

 spreading panicle, eachof them 

 being on a long, slender, nod- 

 ding pedicel, and containing 

 from eight to ten flowers. Of 

 the two glumes at the base of 



each spikelct one is consider- 

 Fig.ios. Fig. 109. ably larger than the other 



The outer or lower palet of each flower is tipped with a 

 bristle or awn (Fig. 109), while the upper palet at length 

 becomes attached to the groove of the oblong grain. 

 Observe that the glumes are not awned. 



109. The Couch Grass is another very common weed 

 in cultivated grounds. In this Grass the spikelets are 



Fig. 108. Spikelet of Chess. Fig. 109. Single flower. (Gray.) 



