And the rare _Hierochloe_. The _Glumes_ are always present in our grasses, and rudimentary only in the rare grass _Leersia_; but _Lolium_ and _Nardus_ have only _one_ glume to the spikelet, and _Hierochloe_, _Digraphis_ and _Anthoxanthum_ (Fig. 32) have four or six. Our other grasses have _two_, but often unequal in size. In shape they are usually boat-like, pointed or obtuse (_Briza_) and frequently with a distinct keel (_Anthoxanthum_, _Digraphis_, _Phleum_, &c.) or with ridges, green lines (veins) and other characteristic markings (e.g. _Digraphis_). The tip may be extended into a stiff long point or awn (_Agropyrum_, _Phleum_, _Nardus_) and the keel, ribs, and awn may have hairs or serrulæ on them. The rule is, however, that the glumes are not awned. In texture the glumes may be herbaceous and green-brown or purple (e.g. _Melica_) or membranous or stiff, or scarious (i.e. browned, as if scorched) at the edges. In _Hordeum_ some of the glumes are so narrow and pointed as to resemble stiff awns. In _Catabrosa_ the glumes are truncate, as if bitten off at the top. The _Paleæ_ are also often more or less boat-shaped, or flat ovate or oblong scales, usually more delicate than the glumes and frequently pointed, or (especially the outer pale) awned at the tip: in some cases, however, the awn springs from the middle or base of the back of the pale, and the latter may be bifid at its apex. The pale has usually a distinct middle nerve. The inner pale is commonly the smaller and more delicate of the two, and is sometimes difficult to see. CONSPICUOUSLY AWNED GRASSES. _Avena._ _Arrhenatherum_ (Fig. 33). _Hordeum._ _Bromus._ _Agropyrum caninum._ _Lolium temulentum._ _Brachypodium sylvaticum._ _Festuca Myurus._ And a few rare grasses like _Panicum_, _Polypogon_, _Lagurus_. GRASSES WITH NO TRUE AWNS. _Kœleria. Milium. Digraphis. Elymus. Festuca_ (except _F. Myurus_ and _F. uniglumis_). _Briza. Poa. Glyceria. Catabrosa._ _Molinia. Melica. Psamma. Agrostis alba._ And a few rare forms like _Leersia_, _Hierochloe_, &c. GRASSES WITH INCONSPICUOUS AWNS, OR MERE POINTS, TO SOME OF THE GLUMES OR PALES. _Arundo._ _Phleum._ _Alopecurus._ _Holcus._ _Nardus._ _Agropyrum repens._ _Lolium perenne._ _Brachypodium pinnatum._ _Dactylis._ _Cynosurus._ _Sesleria._ [Illustration: Fig. 33. _Arrhenatherum._ 1 unopened and 2 open anther (× 12). 3, spikelets open and exposing the stamens and stigmas; 4, the pollen escaping and being dusted on to the stigmas (× about 5). Kerner.] As regards the flower proper, all our British grasses except _Anthoxanthum_ (which has two only) have three stamens; but many exotic grasses have six stamens, and a few have a large number--even 40. The stamens have slender filaments and large versatile anthers, which dangle from between the paleæ when the flowers are mature, scattering their clouds of fine pollen in the wind (Fig. 33).