EECEEATIYE SCIENCE. 



269 



tlieir monopetaled brethren, which, have co- 

 rolla and stamens inserted into the receptacle 

 beneath the pistil, pistils, or ovary, like the 

 buttercups and poppies. 



Not much is it our honeysuckles do for 

 us in the way of the " utile," but in the 

 " dulce " they are pre-eminent ; for what 

 would English hedgerows be in June with- 

 out their twining woodbines, and what would 

 Scottish braes be in July without their own 

 bluebells, that every summer-straying bairn 

 fills her hand with P How very different from 

 the honeysuckle are the latter (Fig. 47), but 

 yet how akin the parts of likeness for which 

 we have taken them together. Look at one 

 of the flowers from the bunch of elder blos- 

 soms, which is so like your old friends of the 

 hemlock or umbellifer tribe ; its one-pieced 

 corolla springs from the top of the seed- 

 vessel, which seed-vessel (Fig. 48) albeit will 

 be a black elderberry in September, and its 

 juice, mayhap, form one drop in the cup of 

 hot spiced wine that good housewives delight 

 in. Now, we give you credit for under- 

 standing the preceding explanations, but we 

 can see that ever and anon you are puzzling 

 to know what thistles, and daisies, and colt's- 

 foot do here, reminded, perhaps, every now 

 and then, by the prickly remembrances of 

 the former as you grasp your flowers. 



Take any one of these last-named plants 

 you like, say the colt's-foot, which will pro- 

 bably greet us first in early spring with its 

 yellow-rayed blossom, and let out farming 

 secrets. However, pull the flower's head to 

 pieces, and what do you find ? Not a number 

 of distinct petals, but a numerous company 

 of little flowers, or rather florets (Fig., 49), 

 each with its one little ovary or seed, and 

 the little feathery surroundings which repre- 

 sent the calyx, for bear in mind that the 

 green covering which incloses the buds (Fig. 

 49, a) and holds the expanded flower is not a 

 calyx ; but of that more hereafter. Look at 

 your dissected colt's-foot blossom again with 

 your magnifying-lens, or, faUing the blossom, 



at the figure. The first thing that wiU strike 

 you is, that the little florets in the middle 

 are very different from those at the circum- 

 ference (Fig. 49, a, c). The little central 

 flower is as perfect, ay, and as beautiful, a 

 little flower as can be, except that its calyx 

 is not quite after the usual . fashion. Its 

 pistil extrudes from its centre (Fig. 49, e), and 



Fig. 49. — Greatly-magnified View of three Florets of 

 Common Colt's-foot. a, tubular floret of disk, with 

 both stamens and pistil, e ; b, bud ; c, strap-shaped 

 floret of ray, without stamens, but with pistil,/, 

 d, bracts of involucre; g, seed or achene, sur 

 rounded by the feathery calyx or pappus, h ; \ 

 common receptacle ; i, scaly bract. 



the little stamens form a tube round it. Bo- 

 tanically, these little central florets are called 

 the florets of the disk, in contradistinction to 

 those at the circumference, which are called 

 the florets of the ray (Fig. 49, c). These 

 last, as you at once see, are not regular, sym- 

 metrical flowers like those of the disk, but 

 are long and "strap-shaped." Moreover, 

 they have a pistil of their own (Fig. 49,/), 

 ovary, and feathery calyx or "pappus," but 

 no stamens, their florets depending for thei]? 



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