CORN^ CHAMOMILE. OAT-LTKE SOFT GRAS8. 



35 



hermaprodites ; stiomas two, revolute. Pericarp none ; calyx 

 unchanged. Seeds solitary, oblong, down-margined or 

 none. Receptacle chaffy, convex or conical. 



Essential character. — Receptaculum chaffy ; down none ; 

 calyx hemispherical, nearly equal ; floscules of the ray more 

 than five. 



The " Corn chamomile," or the " Anthemis arvensis," has 

 the receptacles conic; chaffs bristle- shaped ; seeds crown- 

 margined; leaves thinly downed. Root biennial. Flowers 

 in June and July. As this plant produces abundance of 

 seeds, and the root is biennial or existing for two years, the 

 extirpation of it requires a double care in gathering the roots 

 by hand-picking of the fallowed lands, and to prevent the per- 

 fecting of the seed by cutting and pulling the plant during its 

 growth. 



30. The " Oat-like soft grass," or the " Holcus avenaceus" 

 of botany, is a most troublesome weed on the best arable 

 lands. The plant belongs to the class and order " Triandria 

 digynia" of Linneus, and the natural order " Gramineee" of 

 Jussieu. 



Generic character. — Calyx : glume of two valves ; erect, 

 beardless, ovate, containing two florets, one of them elevated 

 on a stalk. Corolla of two valves, the lower or outer one 

 largest, awned at the back in the least perfect floret ; nectary 

 a cloven membranous scale. Stamina : filaments three in each 

 floret; capillary rather short; anthers long, linear, cloven 

 at each end. Pistil: germen ovate; styles two, capillary, 

 diverging ; stigmas oblong, feathery. One floret has either 

 no pistil, or only an imperfect one. Pericarp none, except 

 the permanent glumes. Seed solitary, ovate, attached to the 

 hardened corolla. 



Essential character. — Calyx of two valves, two-flowered ; 

 one floret with an imperfect germen. Corolla of two valves ; 

 the outer one awned. 



The species "Avenaceus" has the calyx glumes unequal, 

 smooth ; male floret lowest, with a bent awn. Root knotty, 

 perennial. Stems a yard high. Leaves darkish green, rough, 

 and rather harsh. Stipula short, abrupt, minutely toothed, 



D 2 



