18 



Fig. 7. Saccharum officinarum Ii. SUGAR CANE.— a, A portion of a branch 

 of the infloresence with 2 spikelets attached; b, spikelet; c, flower. 



7. SACCHARUM Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 1 : 79. 1762. Spikelets all alike, perfect, 

 awnless, in numerous, jointed racemes, forming a much branched terminal 

 panicle. The somewhat hardened 1st and 2d glumes empty, equal, awnless, 

 pilose with long silky hairs, especially on the callus; 3d glume, when present, 

 empty and hyaline; the fourth or flowering glume awnless, or simply mucro- 

 nate-pointed, hyaline. Tall, erect perennials', with usually simple culms, long 

 leaves, and ample terminal panicles; the small spikelets surrounded by 

 long silky hairs. Allied to Erianthus. 



Species 12, chiefly in the tropics of the Old World, one, S. officinarum, culti- 

 vated in the Gulf States, 



