892 LV. GRAMINE^. 



Most of our native Oramineee form a pasturage for flocks, and, when dried, become hay, which 

 has an agreeable scent, especially when mixed with Anihoxanthum odoratum, the roots of which contain 

 benzoic acid. Some species are too siliceouSj or are armed with awns which may penetrate the skin, or 

 irritate the intestines of the animals which have eateu them {Calamagroatis, Stipa, &c.) ; others are 

 purgative {Bromits catharticm, &c.) ; others poisonous, as the Darnel (Lolium temuhntum), the aeeds of 

 which, if mixed with those of cereals, cause vomiting, giddiness and intoxication. The Molinia ccerulea, 

 a native of damp meadows, becomes dangerous to horses towards the flowering season. Festuca quadri- 

 dentata, common in Peru, is eminently poisonous and mortal to cattle. 



The straw of our cereals, besides its use in agriculture, is also used in the manufacture of hats and 

 bonnets, and especially of Leghorn hats, which rival those of Panama in fineness and high price. Lygexmi 

 Spartium [Alpha Grass] and Macroohloa tenacissima [Esparto] are used in the manufacture of paper, 

 baskets, &c. 



Various Graminece are ornamental garden plants. The Provence Cane (Arundo Donax)^ of South 

 Europe, is cultivated as an economic and medicinal plant ; we have indicated the properties of its root ; 

 its long solid and light stems are of various uses; they are made into fishing-rods, trellis-work, &c. It 

 flowers but seldom even in its native climate, and never in the north of France, where it does not 

 flourish ; this peculiarity, which is shared by its congener, the common Reed, is probably owing to its 

 rapid propagation by rhizomes, which renders its reproduction by seeds superfluous. The Mauritanian 

 Reed (Arundo mauritanica) differs from the preceding in its lower growth (6 to 10 feet), and especially in 

 flowering abundantly, even in the climate of Paris. The Pampas Grass {Gynerium argenteum), a native 

 of the temperate regions of South America, and introduced a few years ago into European gardens, is 

 universally admired; it is dioecious, and the female plants are distinguished by the larger size and 

 greater spread of the panicles. Only two or three species of Bamboos are hardy in our northern climates ; 

 these are all natives of Central China or of the Himalaya. They are the Black Bamboo (B. Metake, 

 and B. glaucescens). The Large Bamboo (jB. arundinaced), a tree of South China and India, is one 

 of the most ornamental species, but it only succeeds in the hottest parts of Mediterranean Europe. 

 The Arundinarias of the Himalaya are true Bamboos in habit, foliage, and the woody consistency of the 

 stem. One species only, A. faleata, has been introduced into European gardens ; it stands the winters 

 as far north as 43°, and is even cultivated with some success in the west of France. Here 

 and there in the gardens of the Mediterranean region the Ravenna Cane {Saccharum JRavenruB) is 

 met with, attaining nearly the stature of the Sugar-cane ; and the Panicum plicatum, a plant suitable 

 for the ornamentation of lawns, also flourishes in the same locality. The Canary Grass, or Gardener's 

 Garters (Phalmis arundinacea) [which produces Canary-seed], presents a variety with white striped leaves, 

 of some value as an ornamental plant, [as does the common Dactylis glomeratd], Briza, Agrostis, 

 Feslttca, Lolium, and Aira are principally used to form lawns and edgings. 



