CLASS TRIANDRIA. 14 



view them accurately ; they are best observed in a mature stage of 

 the plant, when their husks being expanded, discover three filaments, 

 containing each a large double anther ; the two pistils have a kind 

 of reflexed, feathered stigma. They have no seed vessel ; each 

 seed is contained within the husks, which gradually open ; and un- 

 less the seed is gathered in season, it falls to the ground. This facil- 

 ity for the distribution of the seed is one cause of the very general 

 diffusion of grasses. 



The roots of grasses are fibrous, and increase in proportion as the 

 leaves are trodden down, or consumed ; and the stalks which sup- 

 port the flower are seldom eaten by cattle, so that the seeds are suf- 

 fered to ripen. Some grasses which grow on very high mountains, 

 where the heat is not sufficient to ripen the seed, are propagated by 

 suckers or shoots, which rise from the root, spread along the ground, 

 and then take root; grasses of this kind are called stoloniferous, 

 which means bearing shoots. Some others are propagated in a 

 manner not less wonderful ; for the seeds begin to grow while in the 

 flower itself, and new plants are there formed, with little leaves and 

 roots ; they then fall to the ground, where they take root. Such 

 grasses are called viviparous, which signifies producing their off- 

 spring alive, either by bulbs instead of seeds, or by seeds germina- 

 ting on the plant. The seeds of the grasses have but one lobe, or 

 are not naturally divided into parts, like the apple seed and the 

 bean ; therefore these are said to be monocotyledonous. 



The stems of gramineous plants, like those of all the monocotyle- 

 dons, are of that kind which grow internally, or from the centre out- 

 ward, and are therefore called endogenous. 



With regard to the duration of the grass-like plants, some are 

 annual ; as wheat, rye, and oats, whose roots die after the grain or 

 seed is matured. The meadow grasses are perennial ; their her- 

 bage dying in autumn, and the roots sending out new leaves in the 

 spring. 



The family of grasses is one of the most natural of all the vegeta- 

 ble tribes : the plants which compose it, seem, at the first glance, to 

 be so similar, that it would appear impossible to separate them into 

 species, much less into genera; but scientific research and close 

 observation present us with differences sufficient to form a basis for 

 the establishment of a great number of genera. The essential char- 

 acter of the oat {Avena) consists in the jointed, twisted awn or 

 beard, which grows from the back of the blossom ; the oat is also 

 remarkable for its graceful panicle. The rye (Secale) has two 

 flowers within the same husk. The wheat ( Triticum) has three 

 flowers within the same husk ; the interior valve of the corolla of 

 the wheat is usually bearded. The filaments in the rye and wheat 

 are exsert, that is, they hang out beyond the corolla 5 from which 

 circumstance these grains are more exposed to injury from heavy 

 rains than those whose filaments are shorter. 



Perhaps, in the whole of the vegetable kingdom, although there are 

 many plants of much greater brilhancy of appearance, there are 

 none which are so important to man as the grass family, 



Linnaeus, who was distin^ished for the liveliness of his fancy, no 

 Jess than the clearness of his reasoning powers, seemed to deUght in 

 tracing analogies between plants and men : estabhshing among the 



Filaments— pistils— Roots of grasses— Manner in which grasses are propagated— 

 Seeds— How do the stems of the grasses grow 7— What is said of the duration of 

 grass-hke plants 7- What is remarked of the separation of the grasses into genera and 

 flpecies 1— Describe the oat, the rye, and wheat— What is said of the importance of the 

 grass family 1 



