GRA MINEAE 
409 
Caled., Mascarenes ; G. repens R. Br. in Brit. Fir. as in Epipactis 
(Darwin, Orchids , p. 103). 
Gordonia Ellis. Theaceae. 16 sp. Indo-mal., China, N. Am. Seeds 
winged. The bark of G. Lasianthus Linn, (loblolly-bay, south U.S.) 
is employed for tanning. Sta. opp. to petals. 
Gossypium Linn. Malvaceae (iv). 9 sp. trop. and sub-trop. Epicalyx 
of 3 leaves. G (5). Loculicidal capsule. The seeds are covered 
with long hairs for wind-dispersal ; these hairs form the material 
known as cotton. The cultivated forms are apparently reducible to 
3 sp., G. barbadense L. (trop. Am.), G. arboreum L. (Old World), and 
G. herbaceum L. (ditto). The cotton separates easily from the seed 
in the first sp., which is the Sea Island cotton of the U.S. ; in 
Egypt, India, &c. the other sp..are most used. From the seeds an 
oil is obtained by crushing (cotton-seed oil), and the oil-cake left 
behind is largely used for feeding cattle, &c. The firs, are visited by 
bees and (in Am.) by humming-birds. For details see Mueller’s Select 
Extratrop. Plants . 
Gouanla Jacq. Rhamnaceae. 40 sp. trop. Some have 'watch-spring 
tendrils (p. 172). The stalks of some sp. contain saponin. 
Gramineae. Monocotyledons (Glumiflorae). One of the largest orders 
of flowering plants, with about 310 gen. and 3600 sp. found in all 
regions of the globe. In the temp, zones especially they are a most 
important feature in the vegetation, forming prairies, steppes, &c. 
(p. 188). Most grasses are herbaceous, but a few, chiefly the bamboos, 
reach a large size, even as much as 100 ft. in height. Many are 
annual, but many are perennial; the latter commonly branch largely 
from their lower nodes and thus often give rise to a tufted habit (as 
seen in many common sp.) ; many sp. possess rhizomes. The stem 
has well-marked nodes, composed chiefly of softer tissues. If a stem 
be bent downwards (as occurs when wheat is ‘laid’) these nodes 
recommence growth, growing more rapidly upon the lower side, so 
that the stem is once more brought to the vertical position. . The 
stem is usually hollow (exc. Zea, Saccharum, &c.) and circular in 
section. The leaves are alt., and with few exceptions, in 2-ranked 
phyllotaxy (p. 46); they have a sheathing base, the edges of the 
sheath overlapping one another upon the side of the stem opp. to 
the blade (cf. Cyperaceae) ; there is no petiole (exc. in a few bamboos, 
&c.), and at the junction of blade and sheath there is a little mem- 
branous outgrowth, termed the ligule , upon the upper side of the leaf. 
The blade is usually linear. Many xero phytic grasses have grooves 
along the upper side of the leaf, with the stomata at the bases of the 
grooves (p. 165); in most of these cases the leaf rolls up upwards in 
dry air, so as to enclose the stomata completely and check transpira- 
tion; the lower surface which thus becomes the outer one, is covered 
with thick-walled cells and has no stomata. When the air again 
becomes moist the leaf unrolls. 
