Rural School Leaflet 1281 



HELPS IN THE STUDY OF PLANTS 

 E. L. Palmer 



When one wishes to learn the name of any flower that he may happen 

 to pick up, he usually does one of two things: either he asks some person 

 to name it for him, or he attempts to look it up for himself in a book. 

 There are two kinds of books on plants, the popular and the scientific. 

 The former is usually the more convenient for general work, but as a rule 

 the scientific book is the more accurate. The difficulty with scientific 

 books is that to most persons they are unintelligible because of the terms 

 used in describing the parts of the plant. It is hoped that this article 

 will explain clearly the meaning of some of the more common terms used. 



In the first place, the parts of a flower should be learned. The parts 

 of flowers are arranged in groups. There are usually four of these. In 

 the trillium, for example, we see on the outside a set of three green, leaf- 

 like structures. Each of these is known as a sepal, and the three to- 

 gether make up what is known as the calyx. In most flowers the calyx 

 is green. Within the calyx we find a second set of structures which are 

 either white or conspicuously colored. This set of structures is known 

 as the corolla and the separate parts are the petals. The corolla and the 

 calyx constitute what is known as the floral envelope, which is usually 

 made up of structures that are more or less leaf-like. The floral envelope 

 is not really essential in the production of seeds. 



The essential parts are the two inner series. The outer of these is 

 usually made up of structures that look like stalks with a thickened part 

 on the end. These structures are known as the stamens; the stalk being 

 known as the filament and the thickened part on the end as the anther. 

 When the anther is ripe it breaks and gives off a powdery substance 

 known as pollen. 



The inner series of structures is made up of carpels, these being often 

 united to form the pistil. The pistil bears the seeds. The pistil may 

 be composed of either one or more carpels; in either case it is subdivided 

 into three parts. The lowest part, which is usually the largest part, is called 

 the ovary. This contains the seed or seeds. Above the ovary the pistil 

 is elongated into a structure known as the style, at the top of which is 

 the stigma. The number of branches, or lobes, in the stigma usually 

 indicates the number of carpels in the pistil. 



The stem that bears a flower is known as the pedicel; and the end of 

 the pedicel, or the part that the parts of the flower actually touch, is 

 called the receptacle, or torus. 



Now that the parts have been named, let us consider some of 

 the variations and combinations that occur. In the first place, we 



