EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



163 



baby state, cradled witliin its calyx. Tate 

 any common flowers or weeds you know, or, 

 for that matter, tbat you may not know, by 

 name ; open tbeir buds — tear them open if you 

 will, but also cut them in various directions 

 with a sharp knife ; see how beautifully 

 packed within are these petals which, next 

 day, or hour even, are to open in all their 

 expanded pride, without a crease or fold upon 

 them. These poppy petals that we spoke of 

 a little above, look really and truly crumpled 

 up, and yet not a trace remains of such usage. 

 This bud-packing is known, botanically, as 

 the cestivation of flowers, and the term is ap- 

 plicable to calyx as well as corolla, for the ca- 

 lyx, you will find, has its set forms of budding. 

 Like the calyx, the corolla, when it is joined 

 up into one piece, as it is in the primrose, 

 the harebell or bluebell, or blue veronica, in- 

 dicates its many-pieced origin by the divisions, 

 more or less deep, which are marked upon it ; 

 these divisions bearing the same position, 

 relatively, to the divisions of the calyx that 

 distinct petals do — that is to say, the corolla 

 petals or divisions are placed in alternation 

 with the calyx sepals, or divisions, not 

 opposite. Mark the fact, as we shall have to 

 return to it. 



The forms of the corolla are exceedingly 

 numerous; the crucifer or cross-like, the papi- 

 lionaceous or butterfly-like, the rosaceous 

 we have already seen, but to these we must 

 add the labiated, as we shall see it in the com- 

 mon white nettle, the bell shape of the blue- 

 bell, the wheel shape of the forget-me-not, 

 and the strap-shaped little florets of the 

 dandelion, or of the white ray of the daisy. 

 Moreover, as if height, colour, and varied and 

 lovely form were not enough, you will find 

 many a blossom ornamented with other ap- 

 pendages, such as hairs, glands, coronets, 

 etc., which add to its beauty. Gro and see. 



Within the corolla, and, when definite 

 in number, alternating with its divisions, in 

 the perfect flower, we have the stamens, 

 those important organs which, along with 



Fio. 40.— Sta- 

 men, a, anther; 

 b, filament; o, 

 pollen. 



the pistil, constitute the essential repro- 

 ductive organs. You have already examined 

 common plants enough to be aware that the 

 stamens are not by any means definite in 

 number, but occur in every proportion, from 

 the many of the buttercup or rose to the few 

 of the wallflower or the umbellifer. If, how« 

 ever, varied in number, they are far from being 

 so in form ; and their two com- 

 ponent parts,thefilament(Fig. 

 40) and the anther, are con- 

 stant. The filament, or sup- 

 port of the anther, may be 

 absent without injury to the 

 utility of the organ ; in other 

 words, the anther is the es- 

 sential part. Examine it at- 

 tentively, using a lens if 

 possible. You will quickly 

 see that all but invariably 

 this anther is composed of 

 two valves ; and if you ex- 

 tend your observations, you 

 will see that from each of these valves, which 

 are in reality little pouches, is discharged a 

 fine yellow dust. Shake your flowers over a 

 dark surface, and if the anthers be ripe, this 

 pollen dust will come out in a golden shower. 

 Dust it looks, but dust it is not ; for if you 

 get it sufficiently highly magnified, you will 

 find it to consist of multitudes of minute 

 bead-like grains, generally round, but some- 

 times oval or triangular. When ripe, shaken 

 or not, the anthers discharge their pollen by 

 a regular mode of opening, or, as it is called, 

 dehiscence; this opening, in most cases, taking 

 place along a line of suture, but in some in- 

 stances by means of pores or valves. The 

 very abundance of the pollen contents of 

 these anthers testifies to its importance ; 

 without it, plant perpetuation does not take 

 place. But before we get upon that subject, 

 we must make further acquaintance than wo 

 have done yet with the other essential organ 

 of reproduction, and for this we must look to 

 the centre of the flower. 



