628 cypekacejE — geamine^e. 



The leaves are narrow, and their sheaths are entire, not slit. They 

 are found in all quarters of the globe, and in various localities, from 

 the sand on the shore to the tops of the mountains. Many of them 

 occur in marshy ground. Genera, 110 ; species, 2000. Examples — 

 Oyperus, Eriophorum, Scirpus, Fuirena, Cladium, Schoenus, Scleria, 

 Elyna, Oarex. 



None of the plants of the order possess important medicinal quali- 

 ties. The creeping stems of Carex arenaria, disticha, and kirta, are 

 diaphoretic and demulcent, and have been used under the name of 

 German SarsaparUla. Cyperus Papyrus (Papyrus antiquorum) is the 

 Papyrus of the Nile, the cellular tissue of which was used in the manu- 

 facture of paper. Cyperus syriacus, found in Sicily and on the plains 

 of Sharon, etc., differs from G. Papyrus in having its leaves and floral 

 clusters drooping all round the top of the stalk, in place of being erect 

 and bending to one side like a plume. Some say that the word soj 

 (gome) in the Bible, translated Bulrush, is either the Papyrus or a 

 species of Cyperus. The word nnj? (aroth) has been translated Paper- 

 Keeds. The species of Eriophorum are called Cotton-grass, on account 

 of the woolly-like substance which is attached to the base of the ovary. 

 Some species of Cyperus have tubers at the lower part of their stems, 

 which are used as food. The roots of Cyperus longus have been used 

 as bitter and tonic remedies, while those of C. odoratus are aromatic. 

 C. esculentus is probably the inN (achu) of the Bible, translated flofj. 

 Some species of Scirpus are used for making chair-bottoms. In South 

 America Scirpus lacustris is used for making lalsas or boats. Isaiah 

 speaks of vessels of bulrushes on the waters. Species of Oahnia yield 

 fibres in New Zealand. Some of the Carices, with their creeping 

 stems, tend to bind together the loose sand on the sea-shore. 



Order 214. — Geamine.si, the Grass Family. (Mono-Hypogyn.) 

 Flowers usually $ , sometimes unisexual or polygamous ; 1, 2, or more 

 (some occasionally abortive), attached to a common axis, and enclosed 

 within bracts, the whole together forming a locusta or spikelet (figs. 

 327-330, p. 208 ; 870-872). The outer imbricated bracts are called 

 glumes (empty glumes) ; they are usually 2 (figs. 870, 871 ge gi), 

 sometimes 1, rarely wanting, and often unequal. They are either 

 awned (aristate) or awnless (muticous). The bracts enclosed within 

 the glumes are called palese, glumellse, or flowering glumes ; they im- 

 mediately enclose the stamens, are usually 2, the lower being simple, 

 and the upper being formed of 2 united by their margins (fig. 871 pe pi). 

 The innermost set of bracts consists of two or three hypogynous scales 

 (squamulse, glumeUulse, or lodiculse), which are either distinct or com- 

 bined, forming a sort of perianth (fig. 873 p), and are sometimes want- 

 ing. Stamens hypogynous, 1-6 or more ; anthers dithecal, versatile 

 (figs. 331, p. 209 ; 369, p. 223 ; 873 e). Ovary simple (fig. 873 o) ; 

 ovule ascending, anatropal ; styles 2 (fig. 873) or 3, sometimes united ; 



