Monootyledons with Glumaceous Flowers — Graminece. 
135 
solid jointed stems (canes) grow to a height of 6-15 feet. These are gathered before expansion of the flowers, and 
from the saccharine juice, expressed by rollers, then evaporated and purified, the different varieties of sugar are 
prepared by various processes affecting the crystallisation and colour. The uncrystallisable remainder is drained off 
as molasses. Upwards of twelve and a-half million cwt. of unrefined sugar were imported into the United Kingdom 
in 1872. 
Sorghum vulgare and allied species and Penicillaria, the former a panicled grass, the latter bearing its grains 
in long dense cylindrical spikes, are the principal corn-plants of Tropical Africa, while in Tropical Asia, besides 
Rice, species of Millet ( Panicum miliaceum and allies) and Eleusine are the common cereals. 
Canary Seed, used to feed cage-birds, extensively grown in Kent and Essex, is the produce of Phalaris 
canariensis , a Mediterranean species not indigenous in Britain. 
Bamboos (Bambusa arundinacea and allied species) are applied in warm countries, more especially in Tropical 
Asia and China, to an infinite variety of purposes. From the juice a fermented beverage is prepared. The young 
shoots serve as Asparagus. The hollow, transversely-partitioned stems are used in constructing houses, bridges and 
the like, or are cut up into articles as diverse as ear-rings and water-buckets. 
A fragrant essential oil is afforded by Indian species of Andropogon, as the Lemon Grass (A. citratum ), 
frequently cultivated in our hot-houses. 
The more important artificial Grasses cultivated in Britain for hay and pasture are species of Rye Grass 
(Lolium perenne and L. italicum ), Meadow Grass (Poa pratensis and P. trivialis), Fescues ( Festuca ), Fox-tail 
(Alopecurus pratensis ), Timothy Grass ( Phleum pratense), and Cocksfoot ( Dactylis glomerata). Esparto Grass 
(Lygeum Spartum and Macrochloa tenacissima ) of the Mediterranean shores, remarkable for its wiry tenacious 
leaves, is largely imported for paper-making, matting, &c. It was used in classical times for coarse cordage. 
Several species of Himalayan and Japanese Bamboo; the Pampas Grass (Gynerium argenteum), introduced 
from the plains of the southern portion of South America; Ribbon Grass, a variegated variety of the indigenous 
Digraphis arundinacea ; Feather Grass (Stipa pennata ), remarkable in its long feathery awns, and species of Reed, 
as the New Zealand Arundo conspicua and South European Provence Reed ( Arundo Donax), are frequently 
cultivated for ornamental purposes in our gardens. 
