The Gramineae A Study of Cereal, Bamboo and Grass

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Agnes Arber (1879-1960) was a prominent British botanist specialising in plant morphology and comparative anatomy. In 1946 she became the first female botanist to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. First published in 1934, this volume provides a detailed comparative study of the Gramineae family of plants, which includes cereals, grasses and bamboos. Arber focuses on the general morphological features of these plants as shown by anatomical analysis, describing their life cycles, reproductive and vegetative phases, and embryology. The Gramineae family contains vitally important food plants such as wheat, millet and rice, leading Arber to begin her study with the history of human interaction with these plants. It was the first published general description of these important plants, and remains a classic example of comparative anatomical analysis. The book contains over 200 figures and an extensive bibliography.

Contents

Preface; 1. Cereals of the Old World; 2. Cereals of the East and of the New World: general conclusions; 3. Pasture, sugar, and scent; 4. Bamboo: vegetative phase; 5. Bamboo: tree habit; 6. Bamboo: reproductive phase; 7. Bamboo: spikelet and fruit; 8. The reproductive shoot in grasses: structure and anthesis; 9. The reproductive shoot in grasses: compression and sterilisation; 10. Individuality and life-phases in bamboo and grass; 11. The grass embyro and seedling; 12. The vegetative phase in grasses: root and shoot; 13. The vegetative phase in grasses: the leaf; 14. The Gramineae and the study of morphological categories; 15. The distribution and dispersal of grasses; 16. Maize and Townsend's cord-grass: two putative hybrids: 17. Pattern and rhythm in the Gramineae; Taxonomic table; Bibliography; Index.

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