Cultivated-Plant Study 



597 



The three stamens are set at the throat 

 of the corolla tube. The anthers are 

 very long and open along the sides. The 

 anthers mature first, and shed their pol- 

 len in the cup of the blossom where any 

 insect, seeking the nectar in the tube of 

 the corolla, must become dusted with it. 

 However, if the stigma lobes fail to get 

 pollen from other flowers, they later 

 spread apart and curl over until they 

 reach some of the pollen of their own 

 flower. 



Crocus blossoms have varied colors: 

 white, yellow, orange, purple, the latter 

 often striped or feather-veined. And, 

 while many seeds like tiny pearls, are 

 developed in the oblong capsule, yet 

 it is chiefly by its corms that the 

 crocus multiplies. On top of the mother 

 corm of this year develop several small 

 corms, each capable of growing a plant 

 next year. But after two years of this 

 second-story sort of multiplication the 

 young crocuses are pushed above the sur- 

 face of the ground. Thus, they need to 

 be replanted every two or three years. 

 Crocuses may be planted from the first of 

 October until the ground freezes. They 

 make pretty borders to garden beds and 

 paths. Or they may be planted in lawns 

 without disturbing the grass, by punching a hole with a stick or dibble and 

 dropping in a corm and then pressing back the soil in place above it. The 

 plants will mature before the grass needs to be mowed. 



oofs 



The crocus. 



p, petal; sp, sepal; an, anther; f, fila- 

 ment; stg. stigma; b, mother corm; b 1 b 1 b 1 

 young corms. 



LESSON CL 

 THE CROCUS 



Leading thought The crocuses appear so early in the spring, because 

 they have food stored in underground storehouses. They multiply by 

 seeds and by corms. 



Method If it is possible to have crocuses in boxes in the school- 

 room windows, the flowers may thus best be studied. Otherwise, 

 when crocuses are in bloom bring them into the schoolroom, bulbs and all, 

 and place them where the children may study them at leisure. 



Observations i . At what date in the spring have you found crocuses 

 in blossom? Why are they able to blossom so much earlier than other 

 flowers? 



Take a crocus just pushing up out of its bulb. How many over- 



coats protect its leaves? What is at the very center of the bulb? 

 the flower bud a special overcoat? 



Has 



