11 INTRODUCTION. 



extent localization of certain species ; thus, the majority of the grasses in- 

 habiting the damper eastern parts of Northern India are not to be found 

 in the comparatively rainless tracts to the west, where the climate on the 

 other hand appears to determine the existence of certain species character- 

 istic of desert countries. 



As regards the grasses of the plains, it will be found that those inhabit- 

 ing North-Western and Central India, are more nutritious than those of 

 Bengal and Burma. Excessive and continuous moisture, combined with 

 a high temperature, tends to increase luxuriant growth, but the nutritive 

 properties are expended in the formation of rankness. It may be stated 

 in a general way that the best fodder grasses are to be found, and occur in 

 greater abundance, where the climate approaches most to that of a tem- 

 perate one. There is nothing in the plains of India, for instance, to com- 

 pare with the richness of the pasture land which exists on the higher slopes 

 of the Himalaya. The vast stretches of undulating meadows, known as 

 "maidans,"* and which extend from the upper limits of the forests to the 

 snow line, are composed of many of the most nutritious grasses of the 

 world, some of them belonging to species well-known in Europe for their 

 good grazing qualities. 



In order to acquire a sufficient knowledge so as to be able to distinguish 

 one species of grass from another it will be necessary to learn something 

 about the structure of the flowers, the minuteness of which, in many in- 

 stances, constitutes the main difficulties of the study, considerable patience 

 and close observation being required. 



The following is a brief general description of the grass family : — Roots 

 fibrous. Stems herbaceous, annual or perennial, round or compressed, 

 erect, decumbent, or creeping and rooting at the nodes, hollow except at 

 the joints. Leaves alternate, usually long and narrow, parallel-veined and 

 entire, the lower portion embracing the stem in the form of a sheath 

 which is split down on the side opposite to that where the free portion, or 

 blade of the leaf, is given off. At the top of the sheath, and within the 

 base of the blade, is a small scarious or hairy appendage called the ligule. 

 The arrangement of the flowers, or inflorescence, is nearly always terminal, 

 and the spikelets composing the inflorescence are variously arranged in 

 panicles, racemes, spikes, or heads. Each spikelet (see adjoining figure) f 



* These maidans support the life of vast numbers of wild grass-eating animals, such 

 as the burrel, for instance, whose flesh at the proper season of the year is equal to, if not 

 better than, the finest mutton. They are also largely made use of by the Himalayan 

 villagers, who annually, during the summer months, drive their cattle to these high pas- 

 tures. 



f Copied from Oliver's First Book of Indian Botany. 



