53 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



Buttercup flower 



Note the scale covering 

 the nectar at the base 

 of the falling petal. 



LESSON CXXVII 

 THE BUTTERCUP 



Leading thought The buttercup grows with 

 the white daisies, in sunny places, but each 

 buttercup is a single flower, while each daisy is a 

 flower family. 



Method Buttercups brought by the pupils to 

 school may serve for this lesson. 



Observations i . Look at the back of a flower 

 of the buttercup. What is there peculiar about 

 the sepals? How do the sepals look on the 

 , d buttercup bud ? How do they look later ? 



2. Look into the flower. How many petals 

 are there ? Are there the same'^number of petals 

 in all the flowers of the same plant? What is the 

 shape of a petal? Compare its upper and lower 



sides. Take a fallen petal, and look at its pointed base with a lens and 

 note what is there. 



3. How do the stamens look? Do you think you can count them? 

 When the flower first opens how are the stamens arranged? How, later? 

 Do the anthers open towards, or away, from the pistils? 



4. Note the bunch of pistils at the center of the flower. How do they 

 look when the flower first opens? How, later? 



5 . When the petals fall, what is left ? Can you see now how each little 

 pistil will develop into a seed? 



6. Describe the seed-ball and the seed. 



7. Look at the buttercup's stems. Are they as smooth near the base 

 as near the flower? Compare the upper leaf with the lower leaf, and note 

 the difference in shape and size. 



8. Where do the buttercups grow? Do we find them in the woods? 

 What insects do you find visiting the flowers? 



THE EVENING PRIMROSE 



Teacher's Story 



"Children came 

 To watch the primrose blow. Silent they stood. 



Hand clasped in hand, in breathless hush around, 

 And saw her shyly doff her soft green hood 

 And blossom with a silken burst of sound." 



MARGARET DELANO. 



To the one who has seen the evening primrose unfold, life is richer by a 

 beautiful, mysterious experience. Although it may be no more wonder- 

 ful than the unfolding of any other flower, yet the suddenness of it makes 

 it seem more marvelous. For two or three days it may have been getting 

 ready; the long tube which looks like the flower stem has been turning 



