Poaceae

“ This deceitful appearance is caused by a small plant resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches on a species of crumbling moss. Besides this plant there is scarcely a sign of vegetation on the island, if we except some coarse rank grass near the harbor, some lichen, and a shrub which bears resemblance to a cabbage shooting into seed, and which has a bitter and acrid taste.
The face of the country is hilly, although none of the hills can be called lofty. Their tops are perpetually covered with snow. ”

“ We do not aspire to a treatise on botany, but stop to consider only certain facts which are essential to this argument; a consideration of the higher plants will serve our purpose. Certain phytons are modified to become roots, which are the organs devoted to the absorption from the earth of the materials which are to be woven into the plant; other phytons become the stem for support; others the branches for expansion; others the leaves for respiration; others pistils and stamens for reproduction, while others become floral envelopes for their protection. ”

“ Poa pratensis presents similar difficulties to P. trivialis: for diagnoses see p. 42. It is distinguished from P. nemoralis by its closed sheath, thicker, blunter and harder leaves, linear-elliptical shoot-sections, and light coloured nodes, as well as by its habit. All other Poas have shallow and poorly developed roots.
P. fertilis is a form very like P. nemoralis, with rougher leaves and longer ligule, introduced into cultivation.
✲✲ Margins of leaves scaberulous with descending hairs. Very low flat ridges. Sheath smooth.
Briza media, L. (Quaking Grass) . ”

“ The lower forms of plants multiply by subdivision, but in the higher plants they multiply by sexual conjugation, the different sex organs being produced in the same plant or in different plants. In these higher plants the conjugation is adventitious in that the pollen must be carried by the wind or by insects or other agencies from the male to the female plant. But the higher animals have the power of choosing their mates, so that the continuance in generations is controlled by volition. ”

“ In these the axis remains short, nearly as it is in the bud; the leaves therefore remain close together in sets or circles; the outer ones, those of the calyx, generally partake more or less of the character of foliage; the next set are more delicate, and form the corolla, while the rest, the stamens and pistils, appear under forms very different from those of ordinary leaves, and are concerned in the production of seed. This view gives to Botany an interest which one who merely notices the shape and counts the parts of blossoms, without understanding their plan, has no conception of. ”

“ In the water-lily you will find it difficult to determine just where the stamen ends and the petals begin, so gradual is the blending. In the peony the same is true, and carried still further in the merging of petals and calyx into the approximate leaves.
And so it is with tendrils. In certain plants the point of the leaf, through ages of "natural selection," has gradually been prolonged into a slender arm, which clasps the branches of trees, and enables the plant thus endowed to climb higher to sun and sky, and thus to thrive more vigorously than its less fortunate brothers. ”

“ There are many other smaller families in different parts of the world which hover, as it were, about these two giant plant families that make definite landmarks in the scheme of plant classification. The character of having partly united sepals and numerous stamens inserted around, or even above the ovary, give to all the flowers of the Rosaceæ and related plants a general family resemblance that is very striking. The pea family, and its relatives, also have flower and fruit characters of remarkable uniformity, considering the tremendous number of species. ”

“ Peonies are very satisfactory. I am sure you will all want some of them. They look their best planted in clumps. A certain pink and white peony is called the rose peony. It is sweet scented, and when in blossom it scents the portion of the yard where it is placed. These look well planted in wide borders. The roots, or bulbs, should go about three inches below ground in nice, rich, garden soil. Do not plant where they get the full blaze of early sun. ”

“ Paeonies.—These beautiful flowering plants are mostly hardy enough to endure our winters. The herbaceous kinds are increased by dividing the plants at the roots, leaving a bud on each slip. The shrubby species are multiplied by cuttings taken in August or September, with a piece of the old wood attached, and planted in a sheltered situation. Tree Paeonies require protection in winter, and may be propagated by grafting on to the others, by suckers, or by layers. New varieties are raised from seed. A rich, loamy soil suits them best. Height, 2 ft. ”

“ When the ground is well prepared and properly fertilized comes the planting, and as many plants need somewhat different handling, it is well for one starting a garden to understand just how each kind should be set. The iris, for instance, likes to be very near the surface of the ground. In fact it seems to delight in pushing the earth off the fleshy part of the root and basking in the sun, while the small roots lie very close to the surface. The oriental poppy must be planted with the crown well above the ground, or else when any moisture settles on it the crown will rot, and the plant die. ”

“ The flowers may be brightened and their duration prolonged by partial shade while in bloom.
If old plants become weak, or if they drop their buds, dig them up and see whether the roots are not more or less dead and decayed; divide to fresh parts and replant in well-enriched ground; or purchase new plants.
Peonies are propagated by division of the roots in early fall, one good strong eye being left to each piece.
The peony has merit for its foliage as well as for its bloom, particularly when the soil is rich and the growth luxuriant. This value of the plant is commonly overlooked. ”

“ Instead of dropping its ripe seeds to the ground, or having them blown far by the winds, or letting them [187] leap out, like popcorn, or lending them the wings, which dandelions have, or trusting to birds, or sailors, or men who sell seeds to farmers, the Poa had a new way of its own. The mother stalk held her babies, that is the seeds, as long and as close to her, as an opossum keeps her cubs or a kangaroo her kittens. ”

“ In some species or varieties—e.g. Poa alpina, Festuca ovina—this viviparous condition may coexist with normal flowers and spikelets; in others—e.g. Poa laxa, var. stricta—only the viviparous state occurs.
In the following arrangement the student should note that the terms “Seed" and “Fruit" are used in the ordinary sense of the farmer and seedsman: by the former is meant the “seed" as it comes in samples into the market, when the true fruit or grain (Caryopsis) is almost invariably invested by adherent “chaff"—i.e. paleæ or glumes or both. ”

“ Closely packed flowers should have no foliage; chrysanthemums, one species of the brilliant poppy and the sweet-pea need none, but there are few others that do not show better amid green leaves.
While flowers of different varieties seldom look well together, you may sometimes add much to its beauty by giving a flower the foliage of another plant, and a trailing green vine will often be just the touch needed to soften a stiff arrangement. ”

“ But to make my experiments perfectly fair, and to avoid any evil result from self-fertilisation or too close interbreeding, I have invariably employed pollen from a distinct plant of the same form for the illegitimate unions of all the species; and therefore it may be observed that I have used the term “own-form pollen” in speaking of such unions. The several plants in all my experiments were treated in exactly the same manner, and were carefully protected by fine nets from the access of insects, excepting Thrips, which it is impossible to exclude. ”

“ Some plants are all the better the higher and larger they are grown; others must be started in a dwarf fresh state every year, or, if not, their foliage will not possess that pristine freshness which charms us when they are properly treated. A large plant of Polymnia grandis, for example, would, if placed in the open air in early summer, speedily become a far from attractive object, while a young plant of the same kind, put out on the same day, would soon produce and carry to the end of the season a mass of fresh and noble leaves. ”

“ As I have said before, no plant will stand more abuse than the peony and still give fairly good results, but if given a good soil and then good cultivation we have no flower that will give us more satisfaction for the care we give it.
When grown in large numbers peonies should be planted, if possible, so that the plants can be cultivated with a horse. Deep cultivation seems to bring the best flowers. Where we can give horse cultivation we start the cultivator just as early in the spring as we can. ”

“ In the mean while plenty of barren flowers are produced on a distinct root, on short straight stalks, from which they rise like little separate white bubbles, suddenly expanding when they reach the surface, and floating about in such abundance as to cover it entirely. Thus their pollen is scattered over the stigmas of the first-mentioned blossoms, whose stalks soon afterwards resume their spiral figure, and the fruit comes to maturity at the bottom of the water. ”

“ Aira is distinguished by the awn: Agrostis by the very different paleæ and caryopsis.
The other Poas are devoid of web, though they may have hairs below, and require very careful examination. The whole group is excessively difficult to deal with in “seed," and a special study of it is needed, since several species are important, and it forms a type.
(b) No web or pencil of hairs below the “seed."
(1) Apex of palea rounded, blunt, notched, or at most bluntly pointed, but with no trace of awn-or bristle-tip.
142
✲ Palea inflated, round-backed and somewhat winged, membranous. ”

“ The plant has, nevertheless, not yet developed submersed pollination, the pollen-grains rising to the surface, where they are caught by the stigmas of floating female flowers. It follows that the individuals rooted in the deeper water, though growing vigorously, do not mature seed, for the production of which the species has to rely on plants which, at least at low water, are rooted sufficiently near the surface to allow the flowers to rise above it. ”

“ Besides the above experiments, I fertilised a considerable number of long-styled flowers with pollen, taken by a camel’s-hair brush, from both the mid-length and shortest stamens of their own form: only 5 capsules were produced, and these yielded on an average 14.5 seeds. In 1863 I tried a much better experiment: a long-styled plant was grown by itself, miles away from any other plant, so that the flowers could have received only their own two kinds of pollen. ”

“ On other trees the catkins are greenish, and they stay on after reaching full size. They are the fertile flowers, which develop into seed pods. Pollen brought to them by the wind or by visiting insects in search of nectar, insures the setting of seed in these flowers. Though the gayer flowers fall, they are quite as necessary to the making of seeds as the fertile ones. In all the willows and poplars, it requires two trees, bearing the two kind of flowers, to make the seed. And the wind and nectar-seeking insects are necessary as pollen-carriers. ”

“ Even now poplars, alders, birches, and oaks rely chiefly upon the wind to carry their pollen. These plants were amongst the first of our modern flora to appear upon the earth. Some of them possess very neat contrivances suited to the wind. The catkins of the alder, for example, hang downwards, so that each little male flower is protected from rain by a little scale or bract above it. The pollen is very light, dusty, or powdery, so as to fly a long distance. The Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris) has male flowers in little cones. ”

“ Before leaving the pollen-sac a division takes place in the pollen-grain into a vegetative cell or cells, from which the tube is developed, and a generative cell, which ultimately divides to form the male cells (see Angiosperms and Gymnosperms) .
When the pollen-grains are ripe, the anther dehisces and the pollen is shed. In order that fertilization may be effected the pollen must be conveyed to the stigma of the pistil. This process, termed pollination (see Pollination) , Pollination. is promoted in various ways,—the whole form and structure of the flower having relation to the process. ”

“ But the stamens, being shorter than even the germen, cannot discharge the pollen so as to throw it upon the stigma, as the flower stands always upright till after impregnation. And hence, without some additional and peculiar aid, the pollen must necessarily fall down to the bottom of the flower. Now, the aid that nature has furnished in this case, is that of the Tiputa Pennicornis, a small insect, which, entering the tube of the corolla in quest of honey, descends to the bottom, and rummages about till it becomes quite covered with pollen ”

“ In former days a giant [23] chestnut tree was the pride of this garden, only its venerable trunk now remains to tell of its departed glories; but the poyos (double walls) are full of flowers all the year, and the native Pico de paloma (Lotus Berthelotii) flourishes better here than in any other garden; it drapes the walls and half smothers the steps and stone seats with its garlands of soft grey-green, and in spring is covered with its deep red “pigeons’ beaks.” The walls are gay with stocks, carnations, verbenas, lilies, geraniums, and hosts of plants. ”