graminacejE. 663 



resembling a grass, and known under the name of Carapullo, a decoction of 

 which causes delirium for some days, may, perhaps, belong to this tribe, 

 though Lindley (Fl. Med. 613) seems to incline to the belief that it is a 

 Physalis, and appertaining to the Solanacece. The native B. purgans is 

 stated to be emetic, anthelmintic, &c. ; but ^there is no definite evidence on 

 the subject. According to Humboldt, Festuca quadridentata is very poi- 

 sonous, and even fatal to animals. The seeds of F.fluitans are wholesome, 

 and are eaten in Prussia ; and the teff, or bread of Abyssinia, is made from 

 those of Poa abyssinica and Eleusine tocusso. The various species of 

 Arundinaria and Bambusa are used for a vast number of purposes in their 

 native countries. A curious siliceous concretion is found in the Bamboo, 

 near the joints ; this is called Tabasheer, and is much esteemed by the Hin- 

 doos as a medicine, being considered as a powerful tonic, and is also prized 

 in Persia for its cardiac and invigorating properties (Ainslie, i. 420). It, 

 however, appears nothing but almost pure silex (see Brewster's Journal, viii. 

 268). A coarse, soft paper, is manufactured in the East Indies from the 

 tissue of the Bamboo, and the young shoots are eaten like asparagus. 



Tribe 11. Horded. — This is by far the most important of groups, as it 

 contains the larger proportion of the Cerealia usually cultivated. 



Triticum. — Linn. 



Spikelets three, many-flowered ; the rachis usually articulated. Flowers distichous. 

 Glumes two, nearly opposite, almost equal, awned or awnless. Paleae two, herbaceous ; 

 the lower one awnless, mucronate or aristate at tip ; the upper bicarinate, with the keels 

 more or less aculeate. Stamens three. Ovary pyriform, hairy at the point. Stigmas 

 two, sub-sessile, plumose, with long, simple finely-dentated hairs. Scales two, usually 

 entire and ciliated. Caryopsis externally convex, and having a deep furrow distinct or 

 adherent to the palese. 



There are several species, and numerous varieties of this genus cultivated 

 under the name of Wheat, the most common of which is the following : 



T. vulgare, Linn. — Spike 4-crowned, imbricated, with a tough rachis. Spikelets usu- 

 ally 4-flowered. Glumes ventricose, ovate, truncate, mucronate, compressed below the 

 apex, round and convex at the back, with a prominent nervure. Grains loose. 



Villars, Beiph. ii. 153 ; Kunth, Gramin. 438 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 610 ; 

 T. hybernum et ccstivum, Linn. Sp. Fl. 126. 

 Common Name. — Wheat. 

 Foreign Names. — Ble, Fr. ; Civitella, It. ; Weizen, Ger. 



This species is said to be native in the country of the Baschkirs ; but this 

 requires confirmation. It appears to have been cultivated at a very early 

 age, and is noticed by the most ancient authors. There are two marked va- 

 rieties, which were considered as species by Linnoeus and many other bota- 

 nists ; these are the hybernum, or Winter Wheat, with almost awnless 

 glumes, and the cestivum, or Summer Wheat, having long awns. Lamarck 

 was of opinion that T. turgidum, or Egyptian Wheat, T. spelta, or Spelt, 

 T. durum, T. composilum, T. zea, &c, are likewise mere varieties ; but 

 most authorities are against this view of the subject. Wheat differs from 

 Barley and Oats in the perianth not being adherent to the grain. 



It would be needless to dilate on the importance and uses of this grain, and 

 its superiority to all others in the manufacture of bread. It is employed in 

 medicine in the form of starch for a variety of purposes, in the form of bread 

 in cataplasms, &c. 



