CHAP. I. "SEED" OF GRASSES. 895 



grasses, meadow grasses, fescue grasses, brome grasses, quaking 

 grasses, and cocksfoot result. Sometimes the stalks of the spikelets 

 are very short, and lie so closely against the stem, that the panicle 

 looks as if the spikelets were without stalks, though examination shows 

 this is not really the case ; examples are seen in foxtail, dogstail, 

 timothy, and, to a less extent, in sweet vernal. It may be noted that 

 just as the ear or panicle of a grass or cereal is made up of spikelets, 

 so is each spikelet made up of one or more florets. 



The awns of grasses deserve the notice of the careful observer. 

 The awn is a bristle which usually springs from the back of the 

 flowering glume, above referred to as helping to enclose the floret. 

 The awn may arise from the base, or from the middle of the back, 

 or it may be a mere prolongation of the tip, of the flowering glume. 

 " Bearded " wheat is awned, beardless wheat is not awned or the awn 

 is but slightly developed. Instances are subsequently mentioned in 

 which the awns afford the means of distinguishing between species 

 of grasses that are otherwise much alike. 



Some explanation is necessary as to the so-called " seed " of grasses. 

 In the middle of the perfect flower of any plant is a structure called 

 the ovary, which contains one or more egg-like bodies termed ovules. 

 After the ovules have been fertilised by the pollen from the anther- 

 lobes of the stamen, the ovary matures into the fruit, and the contained 

 ovule or ovules ripen into the seed or seeds. Thus, a pea-pod is a 

 fruit, containing the peas, which are the seeds. Similarly, a cherry is 

 a fruit, containing a kernel, which is the seed. A grain of wheat is a 

 ripe fruit, and is equivalent botanically to the entire cherry or the 

 whole pea-pod, for it is the mature ovary. To get at the true seed of 

 wheat that is, the ripened ovule it is necessary to peel off the thin 

 bran-like coats that, in this case, make up the wall of the ovary. As 

 a matter of fact, the simple seed of cereals and grasses is never seen, 

 the grain being really the fruit. The commercial " seed " of rye is 

 similar to that of wheat, but in the case of barley or oats there is 

 something more, for the flowering glume and pale have hardened on to 

 the grain, so that the "seed" in this case is the dried floret, in the 

 middle of which is the ripened ovule. The " seed " of many grasses, 

 as it occurs in commerce, consists similarly of the entire floret, this 

 being the case with the " seed " of cocksfoot, dogstail, fescues, rye 

 grasses, meadow grasses, sweet vernal, timothy, and others. In some 

 cases, the " seed " consists of even more than this, for it is constituted 

 of the entire spikelet. -An example is afforded in foxtail seed, to 

 gather which it is only necessary to strip the spikelets off the ripe ear. 

 Hence, the term "seed" as applied to grasses must be understood in a 

 special sense, the fruit or grain enveloped in "chaff" and as by no 

 means implying the true botanical seed, such as is exemplified in the 

 commercial seed of clovers, trefoils, turnips, and cabbages. In short, 

 the term "seed," as applied to grasses, means simply "that which is 

 sown." Our thanks are specially due to Mr. Martin J. Sutton for 

 permission to reproduce from his work " Permanent and Temporary 

 Pastures," the illustrations of grass " seeds," given in this chapter. 



