The Grasses of Great Britain

THE GRASSES GREAT BRITAIN; ILLUSTEATBD BY JOHN E. SOWEEBY, ItLUSTBATOB OF "ENOLISH BOTANT," THE "PERNS OP GBEAT EEITAIN," "WILD FLOWEBS WORTH notice/' ETC. DESCRIBED, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR NATURAL HISTORY AND USES, CHARLES JOHNSON, BOTANIOAL LECTURER AT GUY'S HOSPITAL. LONDON: EOBEET HAEDWIOKE, 192, PICCADILLY; AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. iUNIVERSilY '-v. LIBRARY QK S7 3 380837 ; THE GRASSES OF GREAT BRITAIN. INTRODUCTION. Among the numerous and diversified forms of the vegetable creation there is one most remarkable ; as well for the extent of surface occupied by its countless millions of individuals, which, owing to their preponderance under almost every condition of soil and cli- mate, may be said to bestow its hue and character upon the "broad green earth," as for its importance in the vast economy of Nature. This form, characteristic of an extensive order or family of plants, comprising about four thousand known species, is distinguished in our English language by the name of Grass, the indigenous species of which constitute the subject of the work before us. The term Grass is occasionally employed in a much more com- prehensive sense than is here admitted, especially by the farmer who, accustomed to regard it as synonymous with green food for cattle of any description, applies it, nominally at least, to Clover, Sainfoin, and other plants cultivated for a similar purpose ; while, at the same time, he may probably exclude from the series, species naturally associating with it by correspondence in structure, simply on account of their diflferent agricultural adaptation. The mere cursory observer, misled by certain resemblances ifl general aspect, may in like manner err as to the limits of this great family of vegetation, by confounding with it Sedges, Spike-rushes, and a host of plants which, organically considered, are as distinct from Grasses as an elm is from an oak. Allowing, however, for such circumstances, which are rather the results of convenience on the one hand and of inattention on the other, the group of plants here illustrated is as well defined, as decidedly separated from the other grand divisions of the vegetable kingdom, as in the animal are birds from mammals, or reptiles from fishes. Such, indeed, is the uniformity of appearance throughout the tribe, that, while other races of plants have been, almost universally, confounded by the writers of antiquity, or only distinguished by their difference of habit, as trees and herbs, the Grasses have found a name in every tongue and time from the earliest periods of human record or tradition. This distinction, indeed, is made in the most ancient of existing Books, where we are informed that, on the third day of creation, "the earth brought forth Grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit,"—the sacred and learned historian employing the popular phraseology and simple classification of his time and people. Now that Botany has assumed the rank of a science, and a closer inquiry into the structure and properties of plants- demands ^more extended system of arrangement than previously answered the purposes of the naturalist and others concerned in their study, it is essential that we should analyse the characteristic features, upon which the separation of a Grass from other grass-like vegetation depends. In a book intended for general reference, it would be well to avoid all technical phraseology ; but, as we must examine and describe parts and organs that have no familiar English names, this is only possible to a limited extent. By a passing explanation, however, of the terms employed, or, in the absence of this, by reference to the short glossary which follows the present introduction, the author trusts to convey to the uninitiated reader the leading and unmistakeable attributes of a true Grass ; sufficiently so, at least, to render his after-descriptions intelligible to one not a botanist. Every Grass, properly so called, has its stem cylindrical and jointed at intervals throughout, the erect or ascending portion, the Culm or straw, being, almost universally, hollow between the joints. The leaves, which spring from these joints only, have their lower part, which corresponds to a flattened leaf-stalk, rolled around the stem in the form of a sheath ; and the upper or spreading portion, the true leaf, is usually long, narrow, and tapering to a point; it is always separated from the sheath by a projecting membrane, or a row of hairs or bristles, more frequently by the first, which is known, among botanists, by the name of Ligule, from the Latin ligula, a spoon or scoop, which this little appendage, in many of the Grasses, somewhat resembles ; or, if we con- sider* liffula itself to be derived from lingua, a tongue, the similarity in outline will not be the less obvious in other instances. The flowers of the Grasses are variously arranged : in some cases they are disposed in loose, more or less spreading bunches, termed Panicles, as in the Millet Grass, Plate XX.—^in others they form compact masses, denominated Spikes, which may be either short and rounded, as in the Hare's-tail Grass, Plate XIX., or long and slender, as in the Meadow Cat's-tail Grass, Plate XIII. These flowers are very different from those of most other vegetable tribes ; never presenting either the bright hue or the sym- metrical disposition of their parts, which excites our admiration in many of the higher orders of flowering plants. The organs which, in the flowers of the Grasses, represent those constituting the richly- varied cup of the Tulip, or the azure and silver bells of the Cam- panula, have here a totally different character and disposition. They are small, dry, membranaceous scales ; never atranged two or more upon the same plane or level, but each occupying its own on alternate sides ; being inserted in every instance a little above a2 IV or below each other, the lower one partially overlapping and en- closing the base of the upper. The outermost scales investing the flowers of a Grass are termed Glumes, from the Latin glwma, husk or chaff; there are usually two of them, but in some instances only one, and in different Grasses they contain either one, two, or several flowers. Each flower considered apart, consists of two scales, or, rarely, of one only J these are, generally, shorter and of a thinner texture than the Glumes, and are called Palese, a Latin word nearly synonymous with gluma. Arising from the back of the Glumes and Palese, we frequently find a peculiar bristle- or hair-like process, denominated an Awn, an appendage which in some Grasses is of considerable length : examples of the Awn, on the back of the Palea, may be seen in the Fox-tail Grasses, Plates IV. to IX., magnified figures b ; and in the Feather Grass, Plate XXII., in which its great ulti- mate length and condition constitute the most striking feature of the species. Within the Palese are the Stamens, the male organs of the flower ; each of these consists of a slender thread, called the Fila- ment, bearing a broader, usually oblong, coloured body attached transversely on its summit—this is the Anther, which, in all the Grasses, is notched at both ends, and, owing to its attachment by the middle to the point of the Filament, upon which it turns as on a pivot, it is said to be versatile. The number of Stamens contained in each flower is usually three but in many of the Grasses of warm climates there are six, or even a greater number ; while in a few instances we fimd only one or two. The Sweet-scented Vernal Grass, Plate I., is the only British species in which all the flowers have constantly only two Stamens; though a similar deficiency from the normal number occurs among those of certain others, in which some oi the flowers present three Stamens, while others have but two or rarelv one only. The centre of the flower is occupied by the Pistil, the base of which, a small oblong or rounded body, is termed the Ovary or Germen, and becomes when ripe the fruit, consisting of a case including a single seed. The fruit of a Grass, being inseparable from the seed, is only recognized by the botanist, the term Seed or Grain being that by which it is generally distinguished. From the Bimimit of the Ovary extend, in most instances, two slender processes, the Styles, which usually terminate in more or less feather-like extremities, the Stigmas. All the parts above described are illustrated in our magnified figures, and, in most of the plates, the Glumes are marked by the letter a, the Palese or separate flower by b, while c represents the Pistil. The Stigmas of the last are often very beautiful micro- scopic objects. Other features are observable, by close investigation, in the flowers of many of the Grasses ; but, however interesting to the scientific botanist, as associated with his theories of floral structure, they are not, at present, available for the purposes of classification, and consequently of no importance to the general observer, for whose assistance alone this description is intended. The persevering student, desirous of extending his acquaintance with the plants before us, beyond the capability of distinguishing species, cannot do better than consult, for details not appertaining to our plan, the " Vegetable Kingdom " of Dr. Lindley, article " Graminaceae," where the leading views and theories of Grass-structure are quoted and discussed at a length incompatible with the Umits of this work. The contents of the Glumes are styled Locustae or Spikelets.

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