GUAMINE^. (grass FAMILY.) 603' 



sometimes permanently adherent to, the palets. — A vast and most impor- 

 tant family, as it furnishes the cereal grains, and the principal food of cat- 

 tle, &c. (See Plates 7-14.) 



Tribe I. POACEjE. U.Br. Spikelefsl -many-flowered, when more than oiie-flowere* 

 centripetal in development; the lowest flowers first developing, upptrmost, if any. imper- 

 fect or abortive, the re.st all alike in the .>-pikelet (perfect, or occasionally nionoecioua or dioe- 

 cious) ; only in a few exceptional cases with the lowest of the several flowers less perfect 

 than the uppor ("viz. staminate only in Arrheuatherum and Phragmites, neutral iu Uniola, 

 Ctenium, &c.). 



Subtribe 1. Oryzese. Spikelets l-flowered, in panicles, the flowers often monoecious. 

 Glumes abortive or wanting ! Inner palese 3-nerved ! Stamens 1-6. 



1. Licersia. Flowers perfect, strongly flattened contrary to the awnless conduplicate palets. 



2. Zizaiiia. Flowers monoecious. Palets convex ; the lower one awned in the fertile flowers. 



Subtribe 3. Agrnstidi-fe. Spikelets l-flowered, perfect, and occasionally with the 

 ruiliuient or abortive pedicel of a second flower above, panicled, or clustered, sometimes so 

 contracted as to form a sort of spike, but the spikelets are not directly borne on the 

 common axis. Stamens 1-3. 



* niLEOIDE.E. Glumes equal, strongly keeled, laterally flattened, boat-shaped, somewhat 



herbaceous, as well as the paleae. Inflorescence densely spiked '. 



3. Alnpeciiriis. Glumes united at the base. Lower palet bearing an awn on the back : 



the upper p:ilet wanting. 



4. Phlenm. Glumes distinct, sharp-pointed, much larger than the two thin and truncate 



awnless palets 



5. Crj-psis. Glumes distinct, not longer than the palets ; both awnless and pointless. 



* * AG1!0STIDE.E proper. Glumes and palets both'membranaceous, or the latter sometimes 



very tliin and delicate. Inflorescence panifled or glomerate, sometimes rather .spike-like, 

 but not contracted into a uniform cylindrical spike. Palets not surrounded by a tuft of 

 hairs, or only with some very minute ones at the base. 



4- Flower perfectly sessile in the glumes : lower palet 1-nerved : awns none. 



6. Vllfa. Fruit a caryopsis (.seed adherent to the pericarp, as in most grasses). Panicle 



spiked or contracted. 



7. Sporobolus. Fruit an utricle (seed loose in the thin pericarp). Panicle open or close. 

 ■t- ■— Flower slightly raised in the glumes on a short sometimes stalk-like base (rallus) : lower 



palet 3-5-nerved ; and this or the glumes awned or pointed, except in some species of No. 8. 



8. Agrostls. Glumes equal, or the lower one rather longer, pointless, exceeding the very 



thin blunt palets. Lower palet pointless, often awned on the back ; the upper sometimes 

 wanting. Panicle open. 



9. Polyposon. Glumes nearly equal, long-awned, much longer than the palets, the lower 



of which is often short-awned below the apex. Stamens 3. Panicle contracted. 



10. Ciniin. Glumes acute, the lower about equalling and the upper slightly exceeding the 



similar palets. Stamen 1. Flowers raised on a distinct naked stalk, beardless : lower 

 palet short-awned or bristle-pointed just below the tip ; the upper l-nerved. 



11. Muhleiibergin. Lower glume mostly smaller Palets chiefly hairy-bearded at the 



base, the tip of the lower one mucronate-poinied or awned. Stansens 3. 



12. Brachy ely ti'iim. Lower glume almost obsolete, and the upper minute. Lower palet 



long-awued from the tip ; the upper grooved on the back and bearing a long and slender 

 naked pedicel of an .-ibnrtive second flower. Stamens 2. 



* * • CALAM.\GROSTIDE.li;. Flower with a copious tuft of hairs at the base of the palets : 



otherwise as in the foregoing subdivision. 

 12. Caloniagrostis. Lower palet mostly awned ou the back, shorter than the glumes. 



