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Home Nature-Study Course. 



The Naffow-leaved Plantain has a long, lance-shaped leaf, not so thick and 

 leathery as its relative but more hairy. Its ribs vary from three to seven and 

 are not so prominent as in the Broad-leaf nor so strong in fiber. But its leaf-stalk 

 is deeply grooved and the plant seems equally resistant of drought. 



Lesson XXIII. 

 THE flower. 



Observations by Pupils: 



(i). In what way do the flower- 

 spikes of the Broad-leaved and Nar- 

 row-leaved Plantains differ? 



(2). On what part of the spikes 

 do the flowers first begin to open? 



(3). With the unaided eye one 

 may count the little sheathing green 

 sepals which protect each bud; how 

 many are they? 



(4). Is there any bract or leaflet 

 at the base of the buds? 



(5). Note the fine green thread or 

 pin which is thrust out from the tip 

 of each unopened bud. This is the 

 stigma or tip of the pistil, which is 

 the seed-bearing part of the flower. 

 Is it possible for it to receive any of 

 the pollen from its own flower-spike? 



(6). The tiny white grains swing- 

 ing on slender threads are the 

 anthers or pollen-cases, and the 

 thread or filament with the anther at 

 its tip is called a stamen. Can you 

 count the number of stamens in each 

 flower ? 



(7). Have you ever noticed insects carrying pollen from the Plantain 

 or do you think it is scattered by the wind ? 



Facts for teachers. — Small as it is, the flower of the Plantain is very inter- 

 esting. Each one has four green sepals with a supporting bract beneath; four 

 delicate petals, too small to be observed without a lens; four of the dangling, 

 pollen-loaded anthers and a single pistil, which is withered before the flower opens 

 and must have been fertilized by pollen from an older flower. This is one of the 

 things which helps to make the Plantain such a sturdy weed, for botanists have 



Narrow-leaved plantain in flower. 



