Triuridaceae; Gramineae 131 



bose head 1.5-2 mm. across. July-Sept. Honshu (Kanto perianth-segments 6, linear, 2.5-3.5 mm. long, caudate, gla- 



Distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu; rare. brous; stamens 3, with very short filaments; pistillate flowers 



3. SciaphUa tosaensis Makino. Scychellaria tosaensis 4-5 mm. across with 6 lanceolate, acuminate perianth-scg- 



(Makino) T. Ito; Parexuris tosaensis (Makino) Nakai & F. ments 2-2.5 mm. long; carpels numerous, rugose above, 



Maekawa Uematsu-s6. Stems 6-10 cm. long, with 1 or obovoid when mature, 1.3-1.5 mm. long, collected in a globose 



2 scales; racemes 3- to 8-flo\\ered, the flowers short-pedicellate; head 5-6 mm. across. Aug.-Sept. Honshu (centr. distr. 



staminate flowers on the upper part, 5-7 mm. across, the and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu; rare. 



Fam. 41. GRAMINEAE Ine Ka (Kahon Ka) Grass Family 

 (English revision assisted by Agnes Chase; Bambuseae assisted by F. A. McClure.) 



Stems (culms) jointed, with solid nodes and hollow internodes (solid in Andropogoneae and in some bamboos); leaves 

 2-ranked, 1 at each node, the lower part of the leaf a tubelike sheath enclosing the culm, the upper part a flat or folded, parallel- 

 veined, usually linear blade, at the junction of sheath and blade a ligule, consisting of a small membrane or a row of hairs; 

 inflorescence a terminal panicle, raceme or spike, bearing few to many spikelets, these consisting of a jointed axis (rachilla) 

 with 2-ranked alternate bracts, the lower pair (glumes) empty, the succeeding bracts (lemmas) 1 to many, each subtending a 

 2-nerved bract (palea) borne in the axil of the lemma, and, in the axil of the palea, a flower consisting of a 1-locular, 1-ovuled 

 ovary with 2 styles with feathery stigmas; fruit a caryopsis, a 1-seeded structure enclosed by the pericarp, the whole structure 

 dry and indehiscent and commonly referred to as the "grain" or "seed"; embryo minute; endosperm starchy. 



This is the fundamental structure of all grasses, but there are many variations. In some bamboos, in the tribe Andropogoneae, 

 and in occasional grasses of desert areas, the culms are solid; sheaths are mosdy like a cylinder split down one side, but in 

 Bromtis and in a few other genera the margins are closed; blades in Arthraxon and in a few other genera are ovate; inflorescence 

 and spikelets are modified in various ways, but the fundamental structure is recognizable by the position of die parts. Two- 

 ranked leaves and 2-ranked glumes and lemmas of the spikelets are constant. About 550 genera, with about 10,000 species of 



worldwide distribution, one of the largest families of flowering plants. 



lA. Culms woody, perennial, usually freely branched; leaf-blades jointed with the sheath; spikelets (in ours) of more than 1 flower (except 

 in Phyllostachys) . 

 2A. Sheaths of the main culm (culm-sheath) deciduous (except in some species of C/iimonobambusa); culms usually thick; stamens 3. 

 3A. Leaf-sheaths well developed. 



4A. Buds 3 at each node of the culm; spikelets elongate, many-flowered. 



5A. Lemmas membranous; stigmas 2; culms bearing air-roots near base 1. Chimonobambtisa 



5B. Lemmas chartaceous or coriaceous; stigmas 3; culms without air-roots. 



6A. Lemmas chartaceous 2. Semiarundinaria 



63. Lemmas rather coriaceous below 3. Sinobambusa 



43. Buds 2 at each node of the culm; culms thick; spikelets 1- or 2-flowered 4. Phyllostachys 



3B. Leaf-sheaths not developed in culms 1 year old; culms low, slender 5. Shibataea 



2B. Sheaths of the main culm persistent; culms small or medium sized. 



7A. Buds 3-10 at each node of the culm; oral bristles flexuous, smooth; lemmas rather large; stamens 3; inflorescence racemosely 



fasciculate, without distinct peduncles 6. Arundinaria 



7B. Buds solitary at each node of the culm; oral brisdes typically rigid and scabrous; lemmas usually smaller; stamens 3-6; inflores- 

 cence a long-peduncled panicle 7. Sasa 



IB. Culms herbaceous, annual, rarely perennial but not woody; leaf -blades usually not jointed with the sheath. 

 8A. Spikelets 1- to many-flowered (if 2-flowered the lower floret fertile, terete or laterally flattened). 



9A. Glumes not much shorter than the lowest lemma; awn of the lemma, when elongate, commonly geniculate and twisted. 

 lOA. Spikelet with at least the lowest floret bisexual. 



11 A. Palea usually with 2 sharp keels, rarely reduced to a minute hyaline scale; lemmas membranous to coriaceous; awn, when 

 elongate, borne on back of the lemma; lodicules 2. 

 12 A. Spikelets 1 -flowered. 



13.^.. Panicle cylindric, the branches very short; florets conspicuously flattened; style and stigma much elongate, protruding 

 from apex of floret. 

 HA. Spikelets articulate below the glumes, falling entire; glumes awnless, more or less connate at base. ... 8. Alopecurus 



HE. Spikelets articulate above the glumes; glumes persistent, free, the keels exserted as short awns 9. Phleum 



13B. Panicle usually open, the branches normally elongate; style very short, the stigma feathery, protruding from the side of 

 floret. 

 15.\. Callus at base of floret glabrous or nearly so; rachilla not prolonged beyond the floret. 



16A. Spikelets articulate above the glumes; glumes awnless 10. Agrostis 



16B. Spikelets articulate below the glumes. 

 I7A. Glumes membranous. 



18.A.. Stamens 3; spikelets only slightly flattened 11. Polypogon 



1 8B. Stamen 1 ; spikelets strongly flattened 12. Cinna 



17B. Glumes coriaceous, inflated, broadened at tip, pointed, transversely wrinkled; spikelets sessile, congested in 



1-sided panicle-branches 13. Bcckmannia 



15B. Callus at base of the floret distinctly hairj'; rachilla commonly prolonged beyond the floret as a hairy brisde. 



14. Calamagroslis 



