THE DICOTYLEDONES 



1733 



The inflorescence is a raceme, two flowers being borne in each axil. The 

 style projects from the bud as a long loop, while the immature stigma is 

 retained within the perianth until pollen has been shed on to it (Fig. 1609). 

 The style then straightens out bearing the pollen which it has collected 



Fig. i6og. — Gieiillen linearis. Pollination. A, Flowering shoot. B and 

 D, Young: unopened flowers with stigma still confined by the 

 perianth. C and E, The style has forced open the perianth and 

 straightened out, exposing the anthers which are held in pockets 

 of the perianth segments. 



from the anthers on its tip. Nectaries are developed at its base and pollina- 

 tion is effected either by insects or humming-birds. The stigmatic surface 

 develops later, often as a disc formed laterally on the style. 



In many genera such as Protea and Banksia the plants produce large 

 heads of flowers (Fig. 16 10) which are surrounded by large, often brightly 

 coloured involucral bracts. A similar form of inflorescence is found in 

 Leucadendron, a South African genus with seventy species. L. argenteum 

 (Fig. 161 1) is the Silver Tree, so called because of its silvery leaves which 

 are covered with fine silky hairs. It is not uncommon around Cape Town. 



The fruits produced in this family may be either follicles or nuts. The 

 pericarp is usually thick and often woody. The fruits of the genus Xylo- 

 mehim are known as woody pears and look edible at first sight. Examination 

 shows however that they consist of a thick wall of woody tissue inside which 

 are winged seeds. In the genus Banksia the fructification takes the form of a 

 woody cone in which the dehiscent fruits are embedded. 



