MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 519 



glumes, the next, also two, palece or glu- 

 mellce, and the innermost set, consisting of two 

 or three scales, are styled squamulce or glu- 

 mellulce ; stamens 1-6, hypogynous ; anthers 

 versatile; ovary 1 -celled; styles 2-3, rarely 

 combined ; stigmas feathery or hairy ; fruit a 

 caryopsis ; seed incorporated with the peri- 

 carp ; embryo lateral, naked ; albumen farina- 

 ceous. Distribution universal; are very nu- 

 merous in individuals, and constitute nearly 

 one twenty-second part of knownplants; in the 

 tropics they are larger, being often arborescent. 

 Divided into two sub-families, viz. : 1. Pani- 

 cince, locusta of two flowers, the lower or 

 outer uniformly imperfect, being either sta- 

 miniferous or neuter, and then not unfre- 

 quently reduced to a single valve ; 2. Poince, 

 locusta 1-2- or many-flowered, the outer or 

 lower floret always perfect. Among the 

 species are Wheat (Triticum), Oats (Avena), 

 Barley (Hordeum), Rye (Secale), Rice (Ory- 

 zd), Maize (Zea), and other cereals ; also the 

 grasses-proper, as Phleum, Poa, Festuca, An- 

 thoxanthum, &a Among remarkable foreign 

 genera are Bamboo (Bambusa), Sugar (Sac- 

 charum), and the Tussac-grass of the Falk- 

 land Islands (Dactylis ccespitosa). One 

 species, Lolium temulentum, or Darnel-grass, 

 is believed to be poisonous. (Graminacece, 

 Lindley.) 



