GLUMIFLOE^:. 405 



flower. And it lias been considered that the occasional appearance of a 

 flower on the upper part of the outer pale of monstrous flowers of the 

 Nepal Barley (Hordeum coeleste) also indicates this glume to be a bract 

 with an abortive floral axis adherent to it. The outer pale of viviparous 

 Grasses (i. e. plants with the spikelets developing tufts of leaves) often 

 appears as a rudimentary leaf with ligular processes at the junction of the 

 vagina] and laminar regions, and thus as a simple leaf. 



The ligule has been considered an adnate stipule or pair of connate 

 stipules ; it seems more simple to regard it as an excrescence from the 

 upper part of the sheathing petiole. The cotyledon of Grasses is usually 

 rather thick and applied to the perisperm. Many other explanations have 

 been given, but this is the simplest and most in accordance with struc- 

 ture and analogy. In Coix and some other Grasses, some portions of the 

 spikelet or of the flower assume a bony character ; at other times, as in 

 some of the Bamboos, the parts of the flowers become succulent and 

 berry-like. In Streptocliceta spicata and in Anomochloa marantoidea the 

 flower is solitary and terminal. In Anomochloa the Iodides are replaced 

 by a row of flbrillsB (Doll). 



* The stems of Bambusa have the habit even of some Palmacese, while 

 the structure of the seed approaches that of Aracese. But the nearest 

 allies, in both habit and structure, are of course the Cyperaceae : one 

 distinctive mark between them, the hollow stem, suffers exception in 

 Saccharum and various Grasses of hot climates; the creeping rhizomes 

 of ordinary Grasses are also commonly solid. The supposed diversity of 

 structure of the stem of Grasses from that of other Monocotyledons is 

 imaginary ; their culms are simply fistular states of the structure existing 

 in Tradescantia viryinica, which,' like Grass- stems, roots freely at the 

 nodes. The habit of the Grasses familiar to us in Britain is uniformly 

 herbaceous j but Saccharum and some southern forms, such as Arundo 

 Donax, Panicum spectabile, Festticaflabellata, &c., attain the dimensions at 

 least of shrubs ; and Banibusa is arborescent, having a woody stem 50 or 

 00 feet or more in height. 



Distribution. Constituting one of the largest natural Orders, the Grasses 

 are universally distributed, and in temperate climates appear in vast 

 numbers of individuals, forming the principal mass of the verdure covering 

 the surface of all but utterly barren soil. The great extent of their cul- 

 tivation is also remarkable, and still more the absence of information as 

 to the native countries of the Grain-grasses, which have been objects of 

 artificial culture from before the memory of man. Rye, Barley, and Oats 

 are the hardier grains ; Wheat is the chief grain of temperate and warm 

 temperate climates, being associated in the latter with Maize and Rice, 

 which form the chief grains of the tropics, Maize more particularly in 

 America, Rice in Asia, and both, locally, in Africa, Rice-growing being 

 dependent upon the possibility of irrigation. Various Millets (Sorghum^ 

 Panicum, &c.) are largely grown in Africa and Asia, and to some extent 

 in South Europe. The Grasses of warmer climates are more tufted and 

 less gregarious in growth, acquire greater stature, are sometimes arbores- 

 cent, and very frequently present the monoecious or polygamous condition 

 of the flowers. Grasses in a fossil state have been found in the Upper 

 Eocene and subsequent formations. 



Qualities and Uses. The main value of this Order rests upon the seeds 



