42 TRIAXDRIA DIGYXIA 



qrikriets 2 or 3, cylindrie or ovoid-cblong, dense-fruited, erect, the upper one 'sc*. 

 sile or suhscssile, the lowest en a short peduncle, (sometimes rather elongated,)! 

 glumes ovate or lanceolate, cuspidate, often longer than the fruit : bracts fi-liaceotij 

 scabrous, surpassing the culm. Fruit ovoid, ventricose, obscurely triangular, stri< 

 ate, densely pubescent, with a short beak bicuspidatc at apex. Seed triquctrots* 

 turbinate, puncticulate. 



Hab. Moist grounds : Serpentine ridge : Valley : not common. Fl. May. Fr. July. 



Obs. F< unci by D. Townsend, Esq in 1829. Some of the specimens collected 

 by Mr. Townsend, have the pistillate Spike lets with staminate florets at summit 

 and the plumes comparatively short-mwronate. Nearly one hundred additional 

 species have been described as natives of the U. States, but the foregoing are a)] 

 <hat have been ascertained in Chester County ;— though I doubt not a number re- 

 main yet to be detected within its limits. The Carices, and indeed all the plan's 

 in the Natural Order Cyperavea f hei% enumerated, are of very little known value* 

 in domestic or rural economy ; and a large portion < f them, by their prevalence, 

 merely serve to indicate the neglected or unimproved lands of slovenly Agricultu- 

 rists. The following Order, on the contrary,— although somewhat allied to the 

 Cypcra:eae,— embraces a great number of plants of the most interesting character, 

 and of inestimable value to Man. 



[Spartina cynesuroides. Cenchrus tribuloides. Triandria Bigynia.'} 



[Galium trifidum. Tetrandria Monogym'a.'] 



(Juncus efftlSUS. J. marginatUS. J. acuminatus, and J* polycephalus. Ucxandri* 



Monogynia*"} 



[Acer eriocarpum. Octarutria Moncgynia ] 



Order 2. Di^yniai 



GRASSES.* J\at. Ord. £61. LindL Gr amine*;. 



■ ■ i .... . _ . ■ 



* The Plants of this Order consist of what are called the true Grasses ; a remark* 

 ably natural groupe, with herbaceous, jointed or nodose stems, called Culms, which 

 are for the most part cylindrical, and fistular between the nodes ; Leaves alternate, 

 one originating at each node, always entire, and generally linear, with parallel 

 nerves, — the bases, or what may be considered as the petioles of the leaves, sheath- 

 ing the culm, but uniformly slit on one side down to their origin.— and frequently 

 with a whitish, projecting membrane (called a Ligule)*\ the top of the sheath. The 

 Fivic c rs are usually Perfect or Mono< I i nous,— sometimes Polygamous, occasional- 

 ly Monoicous, — disposed in little clusters, called Spikelets; ami these, again, are. 

 arranged in Panicles, Racemes, or Spikes,— which, on their first appearance, pro- 

 trude from the sheaths of the leaves as from a spathe. Each perfect or fertile 

 Floret produces a single Seed. The. floral coverings are glumaceous, or chaffy, 

 and more or less distichously imbricated. The outer, or lower ones, (which are 

 empty— being in fact a sort of inv. lucre — consisting mostly of 2, rarely of 1, or 3 # 

 pieces, called valves,) have been considered as equivalent to the calyx of other 

 plants ; and those immediately cm losing the stamens have been called corolla: but 

 they are all now regarded more properly as Bracts. The small Scales (Nectary, 

 Linn ) generally to be found at the base of the ovary, may perhaps be deemed the 

 rudiments of a true Perianth. With a view, therefore, to a convenient distinction 

 J^etwcen the floral envelopes of the Grasses,! shall adopt the lan^uagoofPo/tso/d/ 

 BeaiivoiS)— which has been sanctioned by the respectable authority of Lindley ana 

 Beck, — calling the exterior or lower bracts, Glumes, and those wkich immediately 

 inveel the flower, Falete. 



