42 



a LOUS AH Y OF 



<5. Old- Witch Grass. 



This grass is to be found everywhere in sandy soil and in 

 cultivated grounds. The leaves are verj- hairy, and the 

 panicle very large, compound, and loose, the pedicels 

 being exti-emely slender. Of the two glumes one is much 

 larger than the other. Unless you are careful you will 

 regard the spikelets as 1 -flowered: observe, however, 

 that in addition to the one manifestly perfect flower there 

 is an extra palet beloiv. This palet (which is very much 

 like the larger glume) is a rudimentary- or abortive second 

 flower, and the spikelet may be described as 1 ^-flowered. 



7. Barnyard Grass. 



This is a stout, coarse plant, common in manured soil. It is 

 from one to four feet in height, and branches from the 

 base. The spikelets form dense spikes, and these are 

 crowded in a dense panicle which is rough with stiff 

 hairs. The structure of the spikelets is much the same 

 as in Old- Witch Grass, but the palet of the neutral flower 

 is pointed with a rough awn or bristle. 



t!. Foxtail. 



In the common Foxtail the inflorescence is apparently' a dense, 

 bristlj', cylindrical spike. In reality, however, it is a 

 spiked panicle, the spikelets being nuich the same as in 

 Barnyard Grass, btit their pedicels are prolonged beyond 

 them into awn-like bristles. In this plant the bristles 

 are in clusters and are barbed upwards. 'The spikes are 

 taivny-yelloio in colour. 



THE PLANT-BODY GENERALLY, 



And the Functions of its Parts. 



The higher plants, such as phanerogams, are found to be 

 made up of four distinct kinds of members, as follows : 



A. — Root: embracing the ordinarj' subterranean forms as 

 previously described, and certain aerial forins, together 

 with those of parasitic plants which feed upon other 

 living organisms. The root differs from the stem in 

 several important respects : 



(a) It is tipped with a mass of liardened cells consti- 

 tuting the root-cap (Fig. 243, a). This protects the 

 young root as it makes its way through the soil, and it 

 is replaced from the inside as fast as it is worn awaj' on 

 the outside. 



(b) The growth of the I'oot in length is accomplished 

 by additions to its extremity, immediatelj^ behind the 

 root-cap. 



