CAMBRIDGE BIOLOGICAL SERIES.
General Editor:—Arthur E. Shipley, M.A., F.R.S.
FELLOW AND TUTOR OF CHRIST’s COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
GRASSES.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE,
C. F. CLAY, Manager.
London: FETTER LANE, E.C.
Edinburgh: 100, PRINCES STREET.
ALSO
London: H. K. LEWIS, 136, GOWER STREET, W.C.
Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
New York: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS.
Bombay and Calcutta: MACMILLAN & CO. Ltd.
[All Rights reserved.]
GRASSES
A HANDBOOK FOR USE IN THE FIELD
AND LABORATORY.
BY
H. MARSHALL WARD, Sc.D., F.R.S.
LATE PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
1908
First Edition 1901
Reprinted 1908
PREFACE.
THE following pages have been written in the hopethat they may be used in the field and in thelaboratory with specimens of our ordinary grasses in thehand. Most of the exercises involved demand exact studyby means of a good hand-lens, a mode of investigation fartoo much neglected in modern teaching. The book is notintended to be a complete manual of grasses, but to be anaccount of our common native species, so arranged thatthe student may learn how to closely observe and dealwith the distinctive characters of these remarkable plantswhen such problems as the botanical analysis of a meadowor pasture, of hay, of weeds, or of “seed” grasses arepresented, as well as when investigating questions of moreabstract scientific nature.
I have not hesitated, however, to introduce generalstatements on the biology and physiological peculiaritiesof grasses where such may serve the purpose of interestingthe reader in the wider botanical bearings of the subject,though several reasons may be urged against extendingthis part of the theme in a book intended to be portable,and of direct practical use to students in the field.
I have pleasure in expressing my thanks to Mr R. H.Biffen for carefully testing the classification of “seeds"on pp. 135-174, and to him and to Mr Shipley for kindlylooking over the proofs; also to Mr Lewton-Brain, whohas tested the classification of leaf-sections put forward onpp. 72-82, and prepared the drawings for Figs. 21-28.
That errors are entirely absent from such a work asthis is perhaps too much to expect: I hope they arefew, and that readers will oblige me with any correctionsvithey may find necessary or advantageous for the betterworking of the tables.
The list of the chief authorities referred to, whichstudents who desire to proceed further with the study ofgrasses should consult, is given at the end.
I have pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness tothe following works for illustrations which are inserted bypermission of the several publishers:—Stebler’s ForagePlants (publ