VOLUME XLI NUMBER 1 
BOTANICA (GAZETTE 
JANUARY, 1906 
THE NODES OF GRASSES.! 
MINTIN ASBURY CHRYSLER. 
(WITH PLATES I AND II) 
ALTHOUGH the stems and leaves of grasses have received a good 
share of attention from anatomists, and the bundles of the internodes 
are perhaps sufficiently well known, the nodes have been largely 
neglected. The reason for this may be the supposed difficulty of 
unraveling the tangle of bundles found in»the node, or the obstacles 
which the sclerified tissues offer to the preparation of satisfactory 
sections. Yet the nodes are probably the most interesting regions 
of the grass stem, for they lack the comparative uniformity of the 
internodes. Since the application of the celloidin method to hard 
tissues the difficulties of cutting the necessary serial sections have 
been removed, so that we are now in a position to know intimately 
the structure of these critical regions of the stem. 
The object of the present account is to trace the course of the 
bundles of the grass stem, and to discuss the significance of certain 
structures which make their appearance at the nodes, in particular 
the amphivasal bundles and cambium. The investigation has been 
confined to forty-five genera, but since these represent the eleven 
largest tribes and there is a considerable degree of uniformity in 
structure, the account is believed to represent the family fairly from 
the standpoint chosen. 
The salient features may best be brought out by the description 
of types selected to illustrate certain points. The first to be con- 
sidered represents a medium condition as regards both taxonomic 
position and ecological relations. 
« Contributions from the Phanerogamic Laboratorics of Harvard University. 
No. 3. 
I 
