COMPASS PLANT FRUITS. 



BY WILLARD N. CLUTE. 



FEW people, save the scientists, are aware that the so-called 

 flowers of the compositae are not really flowers but 

 clusters of flowers. Popularly the bright colored objects that 

 make up the bulk of the dandelion or aster "flower" are sup- 

 posed to be petals, but they are more than petals. It only re- 

 quires a moments examination with a lens to show 

 that each "petal" is in reality a complete flower 

 with calyx, corolla, stamens and pistil. The 

 course of evolution is regarded as always running 

 from simple to more complex forms, and just as 

 in our own civilization co-operation is more ef- 

 fective than individual effort, so among the 

 flowers, those which work together for the good 

 of the whole community are considered higher in 

 the scale of life than those which are independent of 

 such assistance. Judged by these standards the Com- 

 positae are the highest types of plant life. Each flower 

 head may be regarded as a co-operative community in 

 which every flower has its own part to per- 

 form. Thus it comes about that in the sun- 

 flower, to take a well-known example, the outer flowers or 

 'florets" have their corollas made larger and brighter to ad- 

 •vertise the location of the flower-cluster to insects, while 

 other flowers, nearer the center of the cluster, perform the 

 work of seed production. Examining the flower-clusters of 

 other composites we shall find many variations of the type. In 

 some, the ray-flowers, as these brighter colored florets on the 

 margin are called, are sterile, in others they may bear only 

 stamens or only pistils, while still others bear both sorts of 

 essential organs. Sometimes it is the disk-florets that pro- 

 duce the seeds, at others these are sterile and the rays are seed- 

 bearing. This latter method prevails in the genus to which the 



