CLASS TRIANDRIA. 
141 
view them accurately ; they are best observed in a mature stage of 
the plant, when their husks being expanded, discover three filaments, 
containing each a large double anther ; the two pistils have a kind 
of reflexed, feathered stigma. They have no seed vessel; each 
seed is contained within the husks, which gradually open ; and un- 
less the seed is gathered in season, it falls to the ground. This facil- 
ity for the distribution of the seed is one cause of the very general 
diffusion of grasses. 
The roots of grasses are fibrous, and increase in proportion as the 
leaves are trodden down, or consumed ; and the stalks which sup- 
port the flower are seldom eaten by cattle, so that the seeds are suf- 
fered to ripen. Some grasses which grow on very high mountains, 
where the heat is not sufficient to ripen the seed, are propagated by 
suckers or shoots, which rise from the root, spread along the ground, 
and then take root; grasses of this kind are called stoloniferous^ 
which means bearing shoots. Some others are propagated in a 
manner not less wonderful ; for the seeds begin to grow while in the 
flower itself, and new plants are there formed, with little leaves and 
roots ; they then fall to the ground, where they take root. Such 
grasses are called viviparous^ which signifies producing their off- 
spring alive, either by bulbs instead of seeds, or by seeds germina- 
ting on the plant. The seeds of the grasses have but one lobe, or 
are not naturally divided into parts, like the apple seed and the 
bean; therefore these are said to be monocotyledonous. 
The stems of gramineous plants, like those of all the monocotyle- 
dons, are of that kind which grow internally, or from the centre out- 
ward, and are therefore called endogenous. 
With regard to the duration of the grass-hke plants, some are 
annual ; as wheat, rye, and oats, whose roots die after the grain or 
seed is matured. The meadow grasses are 'perennial ; their her- 
bage dying in autumn, and the roots sending out new leaves in the 
spring. 
The family of grasses is one of the most natural of all the vegeta- 
ble tribes : the plants which compose it, seem, at the first glance, to 
be so similar, that it would appear impossible to separate them into 
species, much less into genera; but scientific research and close 
observation present us with differences sufficient to form a basis for 
the establishment of a great number of genera. The essential char- 
acter of the oat (Avena) consists in the jointed, twisted awn or 
beard, which grows from the back of the blossom ; the oat is also 
remarkable for its graceful panicle. The rye (Secale) has two 
flowers within the same husk. The wheat ( Triticum) has three 
flowers within the same husk ; the interior valve of the corolla of 
the wheat is usually bearded. The filaments in the rye and wheat 
are exsert, that is, they hang out beyond the corolla ; from which 
circumstance these grains are more exposed to injury from heavy 
rains than those whose filaments are shorter. 
Perhaps, in the whole of the vegetable kingdom, although there are 
many plants of much greater brilhancy of appearance, tliere are 
none which are so important to man as the grass family. 
Linnaeus, who was distinguished for the liveliness of his fancy, no 
less than the clearness of his reasoning powers, seemed to delight in 
tracing analogies between plants and men : establishing among the 
Filaments —pistils — Roots of grasses — Manner in which grasses are propagated — 
Seeds— How do the stems of the grasses grow?— What is said of the duration of 
grass-like plants ?— What is remarked of the separation of the grasses into genera and 
species 7— Describe the oat, the rye, and wheat— What is said of the importance of the 
grass fam-ily 7 
