8 THE GRASSES OF MAINE. 



palea. In the middle, between the flowering glume and palea, is 

 seen the top of the pistil, from which arises a pair of styles with 

 feather} 7 stigmas. At the base of the flower two hairy or feather- 

 like bodies are seen, which are considered rudimentary or undevel- 

 oped flowers. 



Sometimes one or more of the protecting organs are wanting, and 

 there are frequently longer or shorter rough, bristle-like bodies 

 called awns, arising from the back or tip of one or more of these 

 protecting organs, as shown in plate XXX, 6, and plate XXXVIII. 

 The glumes with their included flowers form what is called a spikelet. 

 which may comprise a single flower (plate X, a.) or several, as in 

 plate XIX, where the enlarged spikelet shows a pair of glumes at 

 the bottom, within and above which are seven flowers, showing only 

 the flowering glume of each and five stamens emerging from the 

 flowers. The axis, or continuation of the branch along which the 

 flowers of the spikelet are arranged alternately, is called the radii* 

 or rhachis. 



The only plants with which the grasses are liable to be confounded 

 are the sedges (Cyperacece) and the rushes (Juncacece). They may 

 be readity distinguished from the sedges by the arrangement of the 

 leaves. In the grasses, as already explained, they arise one from 

 each joint, but from opposite sides of the stem. In the sedges there 

 is also one leaf from each joint, but they are separated by one-third 

 of the distance around the stem, so that the fourth leaf comes direct 

 over the first, instead of the third, as in the grasses. The sheaths 

 of the leaves of the grasses are split on the side opposite the blade, 

 while those of the sedges are entirely close, forming a complete 

 cylinder from the node up to the blade. The stems of the sedges 

 are for the most part solid, and many of them are triangular, but 

 the most ready method of distinguishing them is by the sheath. If 

 this is closed, forming a complete cylinder around the stem, it is a 

 sedge, but if split on the side opposite the blade, it is not a sedge. 

 The sedges grow abundantly in open swampy lands, and form the 

 bulk of that poor kind of hay which in some parts of the State is 

 called "fresh grass" or "meadow hay." 



The rush family includes the bog-rushes or bull-rushes which no 

 farmer would ever mistake for a grass, and the wood-rushes (Luzula) , 

 of which there are two quite common species in this State growing in 

 pastures and worn-out lands, and a third species found on mountains, 

 but not common. The two common species are small, less than a 



