594 ORDER CXLII. GRAMINACE^E. 



Genus XL.— MANISU'RUS. L. 

 (From manica, a glove, in allusion to its spathe.) 



Spikelets in pairs, 1-flowered ; inferior perfect, superior stam- 

 inate. Perfect spikelet with 2 glumes; inferior glume saccate, 

 coriaceous ; superior smaller, membranaceous. Palece 2, much 

 smaller than the glumes. Stamens 3. Styles 2. 



1. M. granula'ris, (Swartz.) Culm branching. Leaves flat; sheaths 

 hirsute. Spikes solitary, articulated, clothed at the base by a spathe 

 form leaf; spikelets unilateral. — Probably introduced. About Charles- 

 ton. 2—3 feet. 



Genus XLL— SAC'CHARUM. (Sugar-cane.) 

 (From saccluirum, sugar.) 



A gigantic grass, perennial, with a geniculatecl and fibrous 

 root, growing from 6 — 12 feet high; many stems from the 

 same root; articulated with 40 — 60 nodes. Internodes solid, 

 filled with a juicy pith-like mass of great sweetness. Leaves 

 sheathing at the base, 3 — 4 feet long. Seldom flowers in this 

 country. 



1. S. officina'rum is the common sugar-cane, of which there are nu- 

 merous varieties. 



The Sugar-cane was not known to the ancient Europeans. The Chinese and East 

 Indians possessed the sugar-cane early, and through the Arabs it was introduced into 

 Europe in the fifteenth century. It was raised in Spain and Portugal, and in the 

 islands of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. In 1506 it was carried to St. Domingo, 

 since which time it has spread throughout the tropical world. 



Genus XLII.— ERIANTHUS. Rich. 



(From erion, wool, and anthos, flower; from a tuft of hair around the base of each 

 spikelet.) 



Glumes 2, nearly equal, villous at the base. Palece 2, un- 

 equal ; the inner one bearing a long awn near its summit. 

 Stamens 2. Styles 2. 



1. E. alopecuroi'des, (Ell.) (Erianthus saccharoides, Mich.) • Stem 

 erect, a little scabrous, villous toward the summit. Leaves long, stri- 

 ate, hairy on the under surface ; sheath villous at the throat. Floiocrs 

 in a crowded villous panicle ; involucre hair-like. Glume lanceolate. 

 Palece purplish, unequal ; the interior smallest, a wned. — If.. Sept. — 

 Oct. Wet grounds. 6—10 feet. 



2. E. brevibar'bis, (Mich.) Stem erect, upper joints bearded, lanceo- 

 late, hairy at the base. Flowers iu appressed panicles. Glumes pur- 

 ple, ciliate. Palece ciliate, purplish. — If.. Sept. — Oct. Common. 

 3 — 5 feet. 



3. E. stric'tis, (Bald.) Stem erect. Leaves long, scabrous on the 

 margins. Panicle appressed ; spikelets 2-flowered ; involucre consist- 

 ing of a few hairs, or wanting. Glumes with the nerves spinous. — 2f 

 Aug. — Sept. Low country. 4 — 6 feet 



