LESSONS IN BOTANY. 223 



groove, and the scar at the base. Make a cross section and note 

 the white central portion and the darker shell or enclosing mem- 

 brane. After soaking in water for some time, remove the skin 

 and notice the embryo and try to make out the cotyledon, plu- 

 mule, and stem ; if this cannot be done, examine a grain that has 

 just begun to germinate. The process of germination maybe 

 followed step by step in oats germinating on a piece of wet blot- 

 ting paper. Any one of the grasses studied as indicated above 

 will give one some idea of this order of plants, and will enable 

 one to describe the plant examined accurately, so that it can be 

 identified. 



The value of the hay crop of the United States is not far from 

 $300,000,000, and the cultivated grass eaten by domestic ani- 

 mals is worth as much more; and when we add the value of the 

 annual product of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, rice and sugar 

 cane, the total amounts to at least $1,500,000,000, as the an- 

 nual value of the grass crop of the United States. Grass is king. 



Another extensive order is the Sedge Family, made up of her- 

 baceous, three-angled, solid-stemmed plants, growing in tufts, 

 generally in wet places. The members of this family are of little 

 economic value to man or beast. The papyrus, which the ancient 

 Egyptians used for paper, was made from the pith of sedges. 

 Ropes and mats are made from some species in India. 



Order Liliacese or the Lily Family contains many interesting 

 and valuable plants. The members of this family are herbaceous, 

 rarely woody plants, with regular, and usually six parted flowers. 

 The different parts of the flower are distinct and free from the 

 chiefly three-celled ovary. Stamens six except in one case, anthers 

 two-celled. Cajyx and corolla colored alike except in trillium. 

 The plants usually rise from a bulb or short root stalk. 



The trillium is a very common flower in the woods during 

 early spring and can easily be obtained for study. Secure 

 several complete plants, and notice the thick horizontal under 

 ground stem or root stalk. It is covered with broad scales, and 

 from it branch the roots, and it also sends up an aerial branch 

 which bears a whorl of three green leaves and a terminal flower. 



