( m ) 
that they are feen to greater advantage if 
viewed through a microfcope. The clofe fpiked 
grafles do not fliow the parts of fructification, 
fo well as thofe with loofer fpikes, or the pa- 
nicled kind. In feather-grafs, ftipa pennata, they 
are very well feen, if examined in a proper 
ftate ; but it is even more neceflary to invefti- 
gate thefe flowers, before their anthers have 
difcharged their duft, than thofe of the other 
clafles ; for as foon as the cafes containing it 
#re burft, the whole plant aflumes a withered 
afpe6t, and all parts, except the feed, fall to 
decay. Thefe flowers have no feed-veflel, 
and only a fmgle feed ; which is enclofed by 
either the calyx or corol, from which, when 
ripe, it is emitted in various ways. Th$ 
twifting of the long awn of feather-grafs, in 
order to extricate itfelf from it's receptacle, 
which in this tribe is the ftem lengthened 
out to ferve that purpofe, gives it a very pe- 
culiar appearance. This will alfo happen if 
a bunch of the feeds be gathered, and bound 
tightly together ; they will twine themfelves 
into all kind of directions, till they get loofe 
from the bondage w T hich has been impofed 
upon them, and thus commit themfelves to 
the earth, where they vegetate and produce a 
new 
