rAd BOTANY. 
Glumes more delicate than the palez, pales more or less coriaceous or 
chartaceous, most frequently awnless; the lower concave. Caryopsis 
compressed parallel with the embryo. 
Tribe 11. Phalaridee (of Kunth). Spikelets hermaphrodite, polygamous, 
rarely monoecious, sometimes one-flowered, with or without the rudiment 
of another superior flower ; sometimes two-flowered, the two flowers her- 
maphrodite or male; sometimes two- or three-flowered, terminal flower fer- 
tile, the others incomplete. Glumes most generally equal. Palez or glu- 
melles often lustrous, and hardened with the fruit. Styles or stigmata most 
generally elongated. 
The principal genera are Alopecurus, Phleum, Holcus, Phalaris, An- 
thoxanthus, Crypsis, &c. Zea mays or Indian corn likewise belongs to this 
tribe. Pe 
Tribe 12. Oryzee: the Rice Tribe. Spikelets unifloral, glumes fre- 
quently wanting, or two to three floral; one or two lower flowers unipa- 
leaceous, neutral; the terminal flower fertile. Palez stiffly chartaceous ; 
stamens one to six. 
It is in this tribe that we find the genus Oryza, one species of which, O. 
sativa, furnishes the rice of commerce. This is represented in pl. 55, fig. 
9, where a to c exhibit an entire plant cut into three parts; d is the mountain 
rice, by some considered as a separate species under the name of O. 
montana; e, the flower; /, two grains of the mountain rice; g, a caryopsis 
of the common rice; h to &, hulled grains; /, a caryopsis of the common 
vice. The original abode of the rice plant is to be found in Southern Asia, 
thence having been transplanted to various parts of the globe. ‘There are 
three varieties of rice known in commerce: 1, the Egyptian rice, white and 
coarse grained, often mixed with salt to keep off insects; 2, the American 
rice, principally from the Carolinas, like the preceding, but clearer, and 
preferred above all the other varieties ; 3, the Italian rice, generally shorter 
and thicker than the rest, with furrowed grains. Other genera are Leersia 
and Zizania, the latter furnishing the wild rice of the northern lakes (L. 
aquatica). 
OrpeR 2. Cypgerace®, the Sedge Family. Flowers hermaphrodite or 
unisexual, generally without a perianth. Each flower furnished with a 
solitary bract (glume or scale). These bracts are imbricated upon a common 
‘axis, and the lowermost are often empty. Occasionally they inclose two or 
three opposite membranous bracts or glumes. (In the female flower of 
Carex, the two inner bracts receive the name of Perigynium.) Stamens 
hypogynous, definite, one to twelve; anthers dithecal, innate. Ovary one- 
celled, often surrounded by hypogynous bristles (sete), which are probably 
abortive filaments ; ovule erect, anatropal; style single, two- to three-cleft ; 
stigmas undivided, sometimes bifid. Fruit a crustaceous or bony achzenium 
or nut ; embryo lenticular, inclosed within the base of fleshy or farinaceous 
albumen; plumule inconspicuous. Grass-like herbs with fibrous roots. 
Their stems are solid, often without joints, sometimes creeping, frequently 
angular. The leaves are narrow, and their sheaths are entire, not slit. 
They are found in all quarters of the globe, and in various localities, from 
70 
