■Rural School Leaflet. 925 



3. Is the leaf-stem round or grooved or angled? Is it shaped like 

 the main stem of the plant? Has it a leaflet at its tip? 



4. From what point do the tendrils spring and what is the usual 

 number of tendrils? Do you think from the position of the tendrils 

 that they are really leaflets which have changed their shape? Of what 

 use is the tendril to the plant? Do they always curl in the same 

 direction ? 



5. What are the large, leaf-like appendages at the base of the leaf- 

 stems called? Do they hold their place or fall away when the leaf is 

 grown ? 



6. Are the leaves the same color above and below? Are they smooth 

 or rough or downy ? Do animals like them to eat? Are they good fodder, 

 either dry or green? 



Lesson III. — Flower and Fruit 



Facts for teacher's use. — The pea-blossom is one of the most beautiful 

 of flowers and the different parts have been named from their shape. 

 The wide-spreading upper petal is the banner or standard, the two at 

 the side are named the wings, and the two lower ones, grown together 

 in the form of a boat, are called the keel. When the flaunting banner 

 has caught the attention of some bee who is out after nectar and she 

 alights on the waiting keel, up flies the cluster of stamens, dusting her 

 Vv'ith pollen; when she repeats the act in another flower, she crawls 

 over the tip of the pistil, brushing off upon it some grains of the life- 

 giving pollen which it is waiting to receive. Very soon after pollination 

 one can see that the little green peas have begun to grow. 



The pod is stiffened by a strong fiber along the edge to which the 

 seeds are attached and this side is more difficult to open than the other, 

 but when the seed is ripe this fibre acts as a spring, contracting and 

 bursting open the pod and curling each side of it in spiral form, thus 

 flinging the dry seeds to some distance. 



Observations by pupils. — 



1. How many parts are there in the calyx or small green cup behind 

 the flower of the pea? Are all the points of the same size? 



2. Separate the colored petals and draw as well as you can their shape. 



3. Take a fully-opened flower and press downward with the tip of 

 the finger upon the two petals which have grown together in the shape 

 of a boat. What happens? Suppose the same pressure had been given 

 by the weight of a bee alighting on the keel; what would happen when 

 she visited another pea-blossom? 



