108 
FIRST BOOK. 
the middle, and bark on the outside, while their 
flower-leaves are in fours or in fives. 
THE BAMBOO. 
1. If I were asked to name some of the most 
useful plants in the world, I think I should begin 
with the Grass Family. 
2. Now the grass family is a very large one. 
Of course the guinea grass and other grasses 
upon which our horses and cattle feed belong to 
it; so do the corn-grasses, from which we get 
corn, rice, and other grains; so also do the sugar- 
cane and the tall and graceful bamboo. 
3. I dare say you wonder how these can all be 
in the same family when they differ so much. I 
will tell you how they are like each other. Their 
roots are formed of a bunch of thread-like root- 
lets or fibres. Their upright stems are jointed, 
and are hollow (except in the sugar-cane) ; their 
leaves are long, narrow, and pointed, having no 
stalk, but wrapping themselves round the stem 
by a sheath. 
4. The bamboo, like some of the other plants 
in the grass family, sends out stems under the 
ground, and from these rootlets grow downwards 
and leaf-shoots upwards. 
