FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 25 
possible single exception of Loliwm temulentum, no species is poisonous 
or even injurious to stock. All of our cereals, wheat, rye, barley, 
oats, rice, maize, etc., are derived 
Fic, 21.—Beckmannia grass. (Beck- e 
mannia erucaeformis) (After Britton Andropogon contributes to the man- 
and Brown, Ill. Fl. Northern U. S.) ufacture of perfumery 
Bamboo (Bambusa) is a great 
The arborescent grass known as 
factor in the industrial arts of 
oriental countries. Boats,. houses, 
furniture, quill-work, fences, water- 
wheels, handles for tools, umbrel- 
las, knives, and countless small ob- 
jects of use and beauty will be re- 
membered as formed from the tough 
tubes of this oriental grass, while - 
the young shoots are preserved as 
sweetmeats, and Jampwicks are made 
from the pith. Bamboo carvings 
rival ivory in their delicacy and 
durability, the polished joints of the 
plant serve as writing tablets for the 
natives of Sumatra, and even tele- 
' scopes have been made of bamboo 
stalks. 
from various grasses, many of which 
have their wild relatives growing 
abundantly in our fields. Thus the 
sorghum of commerce belongs to the 
same genus as the dreaded ‘‘Johnson- 
grass’’ of the south (Sorghum hale- 
pense), one of the worst usurpers of 
cultivated lands. 
Its value as a source of ‘food 
products alone would lend importance 
to the grass family; but besides their 
primary use in furnishing nutrition 
the grasses exhibit many economic 
uses. Some species are used for 
hat-plaiting, mat-weaving and bas- 
ket-weaving; others furnish material 
for the paper industry, and the genus 
FAM. 22.—Kalm’s chess (Bromus Kalmii). 
(After Britton and Brown, Il. Fl. Northern 
U.S.) 
