438 TRANS. OF THE ACAD. OF SCIENCE. 
follow the regular succession of bud-bearing leaves to this 
lowest floral leaf or palea. The upper palea of this lowest 
ower, when present, is usually extremely thin an 
rent; it is small or large, flat or reflexed, neryeless or (very 
rarely, like the other ea oe palez) bicarinate* ; it is entire, 
lanceolate, or ovate, or emarginate, or bilobed, or sometimes 
divided into two Saapal lanceolate parts, placed side by side, 
and in some flowers (see PI. XIII, fig. 6), User in! - 
truding from the base of the lower palea and rather 
placed on both sides of the spikelet. 
The second flower is like all the others pedicelled, and is 
mostly pe _ that is, staminate or sree in a very few in- 
stances (see P seca fig. 5, and Pl. XIV., fig. 20) it was ~ 
neutral and either with a somewhat follacepul lower pa 
with both palez smaller than in the other flowers; “ae hs 
reduced to a single palea, which is herbaceous or membran 
ceous; ina nok instance it was almost entirely ne 
and the third flower, above and on the — side as 
one, appeared to be the second. The rare se where two sit- 
proaches nearest to the regular structure of grass flo 
these palee then assume the plans and apparent roc 
glumes, and the spikelet then resembles that of kate 
example, in the arrangement of its parts. The n 
one dh in the formation of the floral envelopes of = 
urnishes an interesting clue to the mo ae 
a 
e third flower, usually well developed, is 
hens in js female thee the male plant) oo 
mere rudim : 
In Sertate plats I have never seen more than 2 pi esc} 
flowers, and very rarely a rudimentary fourth rate uw 
Live show og 3 staminiferous flowers, usually ¥ 
abortive o oe 
e spikelet Shareies is destitute of glumes # and nes 
of 3—5 flowers, of which always the lowest, ol’ nes 
ee and usually the uppermost one, are ne ‘a a 
nta ry and of which 1—3 of the reese ones - 
dy sent erved in the upper an 
nerved in the ber half, thus when ig, a8 
seem, both parts of the wong — and the blade 
like a ligula, paikeb bed can be foun oc 
* Sa Sida wenn Cha & ? 1 
