e parts of the floret are shown in the floral
diagrams. (See figs. 18 and 19.)

[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Floral diagrams.

The first is that of Chloris, second of Panicum and the third of Oryza.]

The =pistil= consists of an ovary and two styles ending in plumose
stigmas. The ovary is 1-celled and 1-ovuled. It is one carpelled
according to the views of Hackel and his followers and there are also
some who consider it as 3-carpelled because of the occurrence of three
styles in the pistil of some bamboos.

The =rachilla= is usually well developed and elongated in many-flowered
spikelets, while in 1-flowered spikelets it remains very small so that
the flower appears to be terminal. It often extends beyond the insertion
of the terminal flower and its glume, and then lies hidden appressed to
the palea. This may be seen in the spikelets of the species of Cynodon.
This prolonged rachilla sometimes bears a minute glume, which is of
course rudimentary. Usually the glumes are rather close together on the
rachilla so that the internodes are very short; but in some grasses, as
in _Dinebra arabica_, the glumes are rather distant and so the
internodes are somewhat longer and conspicuous. In some species of
Panicum the rachilla is jointed to the pedicel below the empty glumes,
whereas it is articulated just above these glumes in _Chloris barbata_.
Sometimes the rachilla is articulated between the flowers. This is the
case in the spikelet of _Dinebra arabica_.

Pollination in most grasses is brought about by wind, though in a few
cases self-pollination occurs. The terminal position of the
inflorescence, its protrusion far above the level of the foliage leaves,
the swinging and dangling anthers, the abundance of non-sticking pollen
and the plumose stigmas are all intended to facilitate pollination by
wind. Furthermore the stamens and the stigmas do not mature at the same
time. In some grasses the stamens mature earlier, (=protandry=) while in
others the stigmas protrude long before the stamens (=protogyny=). As
the result of the pollination the ovary developes into a dry 1-seeded
indehiscent fruit. The seed fills the cavity fully and the pericarp
fuses with the seed-coat and so they are inseparable. Such a fruit is
termed a =caryopsis= or =grain=. Though in the vast majority of grasses
the pericarp is inseparable, in a few cases it is free from the
seed-coat as in _Sporobolus indicus_ and _Eleusine indica_.

[Illustration: Fig. 20.