The field, the garden and the woodland, or, Interesting facts respecting flowers and plants in general . and, are often struck with thebeauty of its verdure, which is owing to the moistair of an island climate. Superior in brilliance as are the flowers of thetorrid zone to those of our island, their pasture-lands cannot at all compare with ours. The grassis either withered by the scorching heat of thesun, and presents a brown and faded appearance,or it is so thick and coarse as to bear no resem-blance to the soft and yielding grass of the Englishmeadow. Only during the rainy season is the gras
The field, the garden and the woodland, or, Interesting facts respecting flowers and plants in general . and, are often struck with thebeauty of its verdure, which is owing to the moistair of an island climate. Superior in brilliance as are the flowers of thetorrid zone to those of our island, their pasture-lands cannot at all compare with ours. The grassis either withered by the scorching heat of thesun, and presents a brown and faded appearance,or it is so thick and coarse as to bear no resem-blance to the soft and yielding grass of the Englishmeadow. Only during the rainy season is the grass ofIndia bright and beautiful; and at that time itcan be enjoyed but by looking upon it from withindoors, as the rain is so heavT as that an exposureto it would not be unnecessarily incurred. Assoon as the showers penetrate the earth, the grasssprings up with inconceivable rapidity; andbarren places present in the course of a few hoursan aspect of verdure, that reminds the native oftemperate regions of the green fields where heonce loved to wander. Grass plants have three different means of pro- 10. Group of tlie Flowers of tlie principal British Grasses, GRASSES. *J1 pagation. Their seeds are scattered over theearth by the winds, or are carried afar by birds;and they will also increase by means of shootswhich are formed at the lower parts of theirstems, and by creeping branches which theysend out to a gTcat distance. The value of grasses, as affording bread forman, pasture for cattle, and seeds for the supportof the little birds of the air, is enhanced by thefact, that one plant only among them possessesa poisonous quality. This principle is containedin one of our meadow grasses, the Bearded darnel{Lo/ium temulentuni), which, if used in bread, isof an intoxicating nature. In some parts of Italy and Turkey, grass plantsattain ihe height of twenty feet; and in manycountries of Africa, in Congo especially, the grassis so high and thick as to become a hiding-placeto noxious repti
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