26 
CLVII. GRAMINEiE (Stapf). 
[Zea. 
Spikelets somewhat tumid, usually on slender 
often flexuous pedicels in long, slender, loose 
racemes or narrow panicles ... ... ... 178. Atractocarpa. 
1. ZEA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 1114. 
Sexes in different inflorescences on the same plant ; $ spikelets 
in large terminal panicles made np of racemosely arranged or sub- 
digitate spike-like racemes ; $ spikelets in axillary sheathed “ cobs,” 
consisting of several spikes whose axes are fused into a spongy more 
or less cylindrical body. Male spikelets 2-nate, one sessile, the other 
alternate on the inarticulate rhachis of the spike-like racemes, 2- 
flowered, awnless ; glumes subequal, membranous, convex, obscurely 
2- keeled, 9-10-nerved ; florets alike ; valves more or less hyaline, 
3- 5-nerved ; valvules similar, 2-nerved, obscurely keeled ; lodicules 
2, "fleshy; stamens 3; anthers linear. Female spikelets 2-nate in 
4- 11 longitudinal rows, slightly immersed in the spongy axis of the 
cob, with a lower barren and an upper fertile floret, awnless ; glumes 
similar, very broad, fleshy below, hyaline above, nerveless, ciliate ; 
lower valve resembling the glumes but shorter and eciliate, with or 
without a similar but smaller valvule ; upper valve similar to the 
lower with a valvule about as long as the ovary ; lodicules 0 ; ovary 
obliquely ovoid ; style very long, 2-fid at the tip, papillose upwards, 
exserted in long silky tassels from the sheathing bracts. Grain large, 
subglobose or dorsally more or less flattened, surrounded by the 
dried-up glumes, valves and valvules ; scutellum large, equalling or 
exceeding two-thirds of the grain. — Tall, stout, annual grasses with 
large leaves, the axils of the lower of which produce the cobs, tightly 
enveloped by large membranous bracts. 
Species 1 ; of American origin, in cultivation in all warm countries of the world. 
1. Z. Mays, Linn. Sjp. PI. ed. i. 971. Culms up to 10 (rarely 16) ft. 
high. Leaf-sheaths terete, more or less hairy upwards along the 
margin ; ligule short, truncate, thinly membranous, more or less pube- 
scent ; blades linear-lanceolate, up to over 3 ft. long and 4 in. wide, 
glabrous or almost so, tips often drooping. Male panicle up to over 
8 in. long ; rhachis pubescent ; spikelets up to 4 in. long ; anthers 
J in. long. Female spike (cob) and grains varying much in size and 
shape, the latter also in colour. — Beauv. Agrost. 136, t. 24, fig. 3 : 
Kunth, Enum. PI. i. 19 ; Nees, Gen. FI. Germ. Mon. i. nos. 3 & 4 ; 
Benth. in Hook. Niger FI. 557 ; Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. i. 9 ; Welw. 
Apont. 540 ; Doell in Mart. FI. Bras. ii. ii., 31, t. 11 ; Bentl. & Trim. 
Med. PL t. 296 ; Duthie, Field & Gard. Crops, 25, t. 5 ; K. Schum. 
in Engl. Jahrb. vii. 157, and in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. B. 69, 85, 
149, & C., 95 ; Koern. & Wern., Handb. d. Getreidebaues, i. 330- 
378, ii. 772-870 ; Klatt in Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst. ix. 119 ; 
Harshberger, Maize : in Contrib. Lab. Univ. Pennsylv. i. (1893) 
75-202; Durand & Schinz, Consp. FI. Afr. v. 692, and Etud. FI. 
