CHAPTER IX. 



THE SEEDS OF THE GRASSES. 



In looking over a collection of grass seeds we cannot help 

 remarking that they all seem to belong to one group, unlike 

 those of some other botanical orders in which the seeds of a few 

 of the species are so different from the rest in external appearance 

 as to cast a doubt on the classification. To a large extent this 

 is due, of course, to their being coated with some of their floral 

 envelopes. When these are firm and close-fitting, as in the 

 fescues, they seem to be the natural coatings of the grain, but 

 in some species, as in sweet vernal, the coverings are so ample 

 and chaffy that we can quite understand why it is more profitable 

 to buy such things by weight instead of measure. Whether 

 they be conspicuous or not, it is evident that if the paleae and 

 glumes remain the same in the fruit as in the flower, the descrip- 

 tions already given hold good in both cases, and afford the 

 obvious means of distinguishing the seeds. 



The identification of the seeds is, however, not without its 

 difficulties ; and perhaps one of the best ways to begin is to get a 

 packet for lawn purposes from a seedsman and sort out the 

 constituents. The clover seeds, which are always present, 

 distinguishable at once by their roundness, can be set aside, 

 and the enquirer will find the rest consisting largely of fescues 

 and poas with a dash of foxtail, and, maybe, one or two others. 

 Mixtures for pastures are made up almost invariably from the 

 five clovers — red and red perennial (Trifolium pratense and 

 T. pratense perenne), both with stone-coloured seeds, alsike 

 (T. hybridum) with greenish seeds, white (T. repens) with small 

 mustard-yellow seeds, and suckling (T. minus) with smaller 

 brownish-yellow seeds — all their seeds being rounded ; lucerne 



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