The Gramineae
A Study of Cereal, Bamboo and Grass

A detailed comparative study of the Gramineae family of plants, which includes cereals, grasses and bamboos.

Agnes Arber (Author)

9781108017312, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 September 2010

506 pages, 211 b/w illus. 1 colour illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.73 kg

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.

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.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]