CLXI. GRAMINE^E. 



593 



brous, nerved, twice longer than the ovate-lanceolate glume ; st, about 2f high, 

 erect, scarcely scabrous; bracts and Ivs. long, not wide; light green. Wet 

 places in meadows, common, and has been ranked under C. bullata. 

 138. C. MIRATA. Dew. (C. arista. Dew. not of R. Br.} 

 & Spikes 2 or more, long-cylindric ; 9 spikes about 2, long-cylindric, pe- 

 dunculate, subdense-flowered, suberect ; perig. ovate, conic, long rostrate, cos- 

 tate, bifurcate, glabrous, subinflated at the base, about equaling the ovate, 

 long-setaceous or long-awned glume ; st. about 2f high, rough ; Ivs. and bracts 

 longer than the stem ; light green. Shores of lake Ontario, N. Y. Sartwell. 

 Also found in the State of Georgia. 



FIG. 55. l. Carex ; a single, fertile flower ; a, the glume ; b, the perigynium, containing the ovary with 

 (c) the three stigmas. 2. Scirpus lacustris ; the inflorescence. 3. A single (magnified) flower, showing 

 the 6 hypogynous bristles of the perigynium, ovary with three stigmas, and the three stamens. 



ORDER CLXI. GRAMINEJE. GRASSES. 



Herbs perennial, with fibrous or bulbous rhizomas, or often annual or biennial. 

 Stems (culms) cylindrical, fistular, closed at the nodes, covered with a coat of silex, often solid. 

 Lvs. narrow and undivided, parallel-veined, alternate, with a sheath split down to the nodes, and a mem- 

 branous ligula or stipule at the juncture of the blade and sheath. 

 Inflorescence arranged in spikes, racemes or panicles. 



Fts. generally perfect, in little spikelets composed of bracts imbricated in 2 rows. 

 Glumes. Outer bracts (calyx, Linn.) generally 2 and unequal, sometimes 1 only. 

 PaletB. Inner bracts (corolla, Linn.) 2, alternate, the lower (exterior) one simple, the upper (interior) 



often doubly carinate, being composed of 2 pieces united by their edges. 



Scales. Innermost bracts (nectary, Linn, rudimentary petals) 13, distinct or united, membranous, hy- 

 Sta. l^-e, commonly 3. Anthers versatile. [pogynous. 



Ova. simple, with 2 styles and 2 feathery stigmas. Fruit a caryopsis. 

 Seed with the embryo situated on the outside of farinaceous albumen, at the base, next the hilum. 



Genera 291, species about 3800, universally diffused throughout the world, having no other limits than 

 those that bound vegetation in general. But the species and their characters are widely different in dif- 

 ferent climes. In temperate zones the grasses clothe a large portion of the earth's surface with a com- 

 pact, soft, green, carpet-like turf; but in tropical regions this beautiful grassy turf disappears and the 

 grasses become larger, more isolated like other plants, fewer in the number of individuals, with broader 

 leaves and more showy flowers. - 



Properties. This family doubtless contributes more to the sustenance of man and beast than all others 

 combined. Its sweet and nutritious properties reside both in the farinaceous albumen of the seed and in 

 the herbage. No poisonous or even suspicious herb is found among them, with the single exception of 

 Lolium temulentum. The poisonous and medicinal ergot or spurred rye is only a parasitic fungus, and 

 therefore forms no exception to this remark. The sterns of many grasses contain sugar, as the maize and 

 sugar cane. Silex is also a frequent ingredient. To this order belong the common grains, maize, wheat, 

 rye. rice, barley, oats, &c. The most important of the cultivated grasses are Phleum or Timothy grass, 

 several kinds of Poa, Agrostis, Alopecurus, Festuca, Aira, Panicum, Cinna, Briza, &c. 



