548 



PART III. THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 



Tribe 3. Antiropnyonea; : flowers monoecious or polygamous : glumes 3, of 

 which the lowest is the largest. 



Saccharum 0/icinarum, the Sugar-cane, is a native of the East Indies. 

 Andropogon Sorghum, in different varieties (vulgaris, Durra, etc.), yields a kind 

 of Millet seed : the flour of this is known in Arabia and India as Durra. 



Tribe 4. Oryzece : spikes laterally compressed : glumes 2-4, often represented 

 only by bristles : stamens generally 6. Ori/za satlva is the Kice-plant, from 

 the East Indies ; cultivated in marshy regions of Southern Europe. Leersia 

 oryzoides, the Cut-Grass, is found in ditches in the South of England. 



Series B. POOIOE^E : spikelet one- or many-flowered, with distinct internodes 

 between the flowers : when one-flowered, the axis of the spikelet is prolonged 



beyond the flower : the ripe fruits 

 fall, leaving the glumes behind. 



Tribe 5. Plialaridece : spike- 

 lets pedicillate in panicles, later- 

 ally compressed, 1- flowered : 

 glumes 4, the inner pair being 

 smaller. Phalaris amndinacea, 

 the Heed-Grass, is common on 

 the banks of streams, etc.: a 

 variety with white- streaked leaves 

 is cultivated in gardens. Anthox- 

 an/hnm odoratum, Vernal-Grass, 

 which has only two stamens and 

 a paniculate inflorescence, is 

 common in meadows : it gives 

 the peculiar odour to fresh hay. 



Tribe 6. Agrostidece : spike- 

 lets 1-flowered, in panicles : 

 glumes 2. 



In Agrostis, the Bent-Grass, 

 the axis of the spikelet is gla- 

 brous, or it bears short hairs ; A. 

 vulgari* and alba are common in 

 meadows : Apera Spica Venti is 

 common in fields : in Calama- 

 grostis, the Small Eeed, several 

 species of which occur on the 

 banks of rivers and in woods, the 

 axis of the spikelet is covered with long hairs. Stipa pennata, the Feather- 

 Grass, has a long hairy awn. Milium cff'usum, Millet-Grass, without an awn, 

 is common in woods. Amongst the forms with dense cylindrical panicles, 

 Alopecurus, the Fox-tail Grass, has the glumes coherent at the base, and one 

 rudimentary palea. Phleum, the Cat's-tail Grass, has free glumes and two 

 distinct paleas. Phltum pratense is commonly known as Timothy-Grass. 



Tribe 7. Avenece : the paniculate, or rarely spicate, spikelets consist of several 

 (usually two) flowers one of which is sometimes <? ; the glumes (or one of them 

 at least) are as long as the whole spikelet, longer than the inferior pale*, which 

 usually have a long twisted or bent awn. 



B 



FIG. 356. A Panicle of Oat, Arena sativa : s main 

 axis; s' lateral axes; a spikelet (J nat. size). B 

 Spike of Wheat: s axis; g the depressions in 

 which the spikelets (a) lie. These are removed 

 at the lower part. 



