GKASSES OF NORTH AMERICA. 



■ W- J'^"^ 



GR AMINES. '^' '"^ 



Flowers perfect or imperfect in litlffe jrreen or more or less sca- 

 lious spikes, called sjtikrh'fs, consj/Briu*; of a small axis, rachilhi, 

 beariii<r several scalelike disticbmis bracts called (/liniics, the 2 

 or sometimes I or rarely 3 or more lower ones and sonietimes 1 

 or more upper ones empty, the other one or more ffornf or j!oir- 

 (■riiifi <rlumes with I sessile flower in the axil of each. No normal 

 l)erianth, but the Hower usually in a '^-nerved ^lumelike scale 

 called a palm (prophyllum). within which are often found 'I or 3 

 very thin liyaline scales called laiiirKh's. Stamens usually .'{. 

 sometimes 'i or 1. in a few genera 0-40 ; filaments distinct, filiform 

 or rarely monadelj)hous; anthei's usually versatile, rarely attached 

 at one end. ovate, oblong or linear, with H parallel cavities without 

 any prominent connective. Ovary sessile or on a short stipe, 

 erect. 1 -celled. Styles 2, lateral or nirely '.i or 1. distinct or united 

 at the base into a 'I- or .'M)ranched style, the npper sti<rmatic iM)r- 

 tion. or sfi(/nnifi, either feathery with simple or bnmched stifjinatic 

 hairs, or more rarely simple aiul clothed with very short papilhv. 

 Ovule 1. ascendiiiir. slijrhtly camj)ylotropous. Kruit a rarjfopsis or 

 ^rain. usually small, often eiu'losed in the palea and sul)tendin<f 

 ^lume. to the former (and rarely the latter) of which it sometimes 

 adheres, the thin membranous pericarp usually closely adnate to 

 the seed and inseparable from it. in a few genera loosely surround- 

 iiijr the seed and dehiscent. Seed erect with a thin adnate testa; 

 end)ryo small, on one side of the base of the endosperm (albumen). 



Annual or perennial herbs usually tufted or decumbent, rarely 



