126 BOTANY FOR LEGINNERS. [Ch. XXI. 
seed. The grasses which serve for the subsistence of cattle are 
mostly perennial ; though the herbage dies at the approach of 
winter, the roots live, and are ready to throw out their shoots on 
the return of spring. 
539. Grasses are not recommended for young botanists to 
analyze, because it is often difficult to distinguish the different 
genera,-as they appear in many respects very similar, and the 
flowers are not showy like those of many other plants; how- 
ever, you can easily distinguish the different parts of a bunch of 
grass, viz.: the fibrous root, the culm-like stem, the long and 
narrow leaves, and the flowers with their green stamens and 
pistils. 
540. There are some coarse grass-like plants, which grow in 
bogs and marshes, destitute of those nourishing qualities which 
belong to the grasses generally ; they are known by the name 
of rushes, sedges, and cat-tails: most of them have their sta- 
mens and pistils on separate flowers, and are therefore placed in 
the class Monecia. 
Crass 1V.—-Terranpia, four stamens. 
541. Orper 1, Monoeynta, one pisti!. This class presents us 
with flowers of four stamens of nearly equal length ;—there is 
another class, the 13th, in which the plants have four stamens, 
but these grow in two pairs of unequal length. 
Fig. 75. 
542. The cut represents at a the 
stamens, pistils, and four leaved calyx, 
of the common plaintain; at b, those of 
the Cornus, or Box-wood; at c,isa 
flower of the Cissus, or false grape, its 
calyx is very small, (not seen in the 
cut,) the petals are large and bent 
back, the filaments are shorter than 
the petals and crowned with large an- 
thers. 
543. There is a little pale blue flow- 
er which almost every child in New 
England knows and loves. It is 
known by different names; some call 
539. Are grasses the best flowers for beginners in botany to analyze? 
540. What is said of the grass-like plants which grow in bogs and 
marshes? 
541. How does the 4th class differ from the 13th ? 
542, What does Fig. 75 represent ? 
