300 DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



SETARIA, Beauv. (Millet. Bengal Grass.) Inflorescence a spike- 

 like panicle ; spikelets 2-flowered, surrounded by persistent bristles ; 

 the upper floret perfect, lower one staniinate or neutral or wanting ; 

 lower glume usually short. Stamens in the perfect flowers 3, the col- 

 lateral scales truncate, fleshy, and smooth. Number of styles 2, 

 terminal, elongated. Stigmas plumose ; inflorescence a spike. Seeds 

 free and compressed. 



S. Italica, Beauv., Var. Germanica, Kunth. Stem or culm 2 to 5 feet high, 

 terete, leafy. Leaves from 6 to 15 inches long, linear-lanceolate, broad, flat, 

 and finely serrate on the edges, clasping the stem in a striate sheath ; spike 

 compound, yellowish or purplish, oblong, ovoid, or somewhat cylindrical; 

 rachis hirsute, hairs long. Flowers in July. Fruit ripens in August. 



Geography. — It grows well where oats and rye can be successfully culti- 

 vated ; it has escaped in America, and is ranked among the weeds when with- 

 out cultivation. 



Etymology. — Setaria is from the Latin word seta, a bristle, on account of 

 the bristly character of the spikelet involucres. The specific name Italica 

 denotes the plant's home ; and the name of the variety indicates that it arose 

 in Germany. Millet is from the French millet, diminutive of mil, the old 

 French name of the plant. Bengal grass is named from Bengal, where this 

 plant is native. 



History. — Setaria is one of the grains which the Emperor of China sows at 

 a public ceremony which has occurred annually since 2700 b. c, and it is 

 believed to be native to China, Japan, and India. Its cultivation spread toward 

 the west through Russia. It is found in the Swiss Lake-dwellings of the Stone 

 Age. It is either completely naturalized or native to western Asia, southern 

 Europe, and Egypt. Though cultivated for forage, it is so inferior in 

 every way to oats that little attention is paid to its improvement. There 

 are a number of species, but the var. Germanica is altogether superior to 

 the others. 



Use. — This plant is grown in Italy for seed, used to feed caged birds. 



Order LXII. CONIFERS. (Cone Family.) 



Flowers in catkin-like spikes, monoecious or dioecious, naked, or 

 without floral envelopes. Staminate flowers composed of anther- 

 bearing scales ; catkins longer than broad. Pistillate catkin more or 

 less conical, subglobular -or cylindrical, with few or many flowers, 

 occasionally 1-flowered ; ripened catkin becoming a strobile or conical 

 subglobular body, formed of woody, imbricated scales, bearing 1 — 

 many naked ovules, with 2-15 cotyledons. Seed in most cases fur- 

 nished with a membranous wing, sometimes solitary, in a fleshy cup. 

 Leaves simple, needle-shaped, alternate, linear or lanceolate, in some 

 cases in groups, inclosed at the base in a membranous sheath, resinous. 

 Trees or shrubs. 



No. of genera, 32 ; species, 300 ; temperate zones and mountains. 



PINTJS, L. Evergreen trees, ranging from 30 to 100 feet in height. 

 Leaves linear, grouped, 2 to 5 in a group, very rarely solitary, inclosed 

 at the base in a scaly sheath. Male flowers grouped in catkins. 



