548 



PAET III. — THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 



Tribe 3. Andropogonecc : flowers monoecious or polygamous : glumes 3, of 

 which the lowest is the largest. 



Saccharum OJicinamm, the Sugar-cane, is a native of the East Indies. 

 Andropogon Sorghum, in different varieties {vulgaris, Durra, etc.), yields a kind 

 of Millet seed : the flour of this is known in Arabia and India as Durra. 



Tribe 4. Oryzece : spikes laterally compressed: glumes 2-4, often represented 

 only by bristles: stamens generally 6. Onjza satlva is the Kice-plant, from 

 the East Indies ; cultivated in marshy regions of Southern Europe. Leersia 

 oryzoides, the Cut-Grass, is found in ditches in the South of England. 



Series B. Pooide^ : spikelet one- or many-flowered, with distinct internodes 

 between the flowers: when one-flowered, the axis of the spikelet is prolonged 



beyond the flower : the ripe fruits 

 fall, leaving the glumes behind. 



Tribe 5. Fhalaridece : spike- 

 lets pedicillate in panicles, later- 

 ally compressed, 1- flowered: 

 glumes 4, the inner pair bein 4 

 smaller. Phalaris arundinacea, 

 the Reed-Grass, is common on 

 the banks of streams, etc. : a 

 variety with white-streaked leaves 

 is cultivated in gardens. Anthox- 

 anfhvm odoratum, Vernal-Grass, 

 which has only two stamens and 

 a paniculate inflorescence, is 

 common in meadows : it gives 

 the peculiar odour to fresh hay. 



Tribe 6. Agrostidecc : spike- 

 lets 1-flowered, in panicles : 

 glumes 2. 



In Agrostis, the Bent-Grass, 

 the axis of the spikelet is gla- 

 brous, or it bears short hairs ; A. 

 vulgaris and alba are common in 

 meadows : Apera Spica Venti is 

 common in fields : in Calama- 

 grostis, the Small Reed, several 

 species of which occur on the 

 banks of rivers and in woods, the 

 axis of the spikelet is covered with long hairs. Stipa pennata, the Feather- 

 Grass, has a long hairy awn. Milium effnsumy Millet-Grass, without an awn, 

 is common in woods. Amongst the forms with dense cylindrical panicles, 

 Alopecurus, the Fox-tail Grass, has the glumes coherent at the base, and one 

 rudimentary palea. Phleum, the Cat'stail Grass, has free glumes and two 

 distinct palere. Phleum pratense is commonly known as Timothy-Grass. 



Tribe 7. Avenece : the paniculate, or rarely spicate, spikelets consist of several 

 (usually two) flowers one of which is sometimes <J ; the glumes (or one of them 

 at least) are as long as the whole spikelet, longer than the inferior paleae, which 

 usually have a long twisted or bent awn. 



Fig. 356. — A Panicle of Oat, Avena sativa : 8 main 

 axis ; s' lateral axes ; o spikelet (^ nat. size). B 

 Spike of Wheat: s axis; g the depressions in 

 which the spikelets (a) lie. These are removed 

 at the lower part. 



