5IO Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



I will illustrate the meaning of these remarks by a very simple 

 example. Take the flowers and fruits of an Aloe. From the text- 

 book hitherto prescribed we learn " that the perianth is sub- 

 cylindrical, straight, or curved, the segments more or less connate, 

 three inner narrower and thinner than the outer ones. Stamens 

 hypogynous, mostly included in the tube. Ovary sessile, with 

 numerous ovules. Fruit, a three-celled capsule, opening loculicid- 

 ally. Shrubby or aborescent, succulent plants, with bitter juice," 

 etc. Now, this may be very interesting to some people, but must be 

 an awful bore to a child. 



The skilful teacher would have most of these facts already 

 brought out before he comes to Systematic Botany. I will only 

 mention a few^ of them. He will have referred to the shrubby or 

 arborescent growth of many Aloes when speaking of shrubs and 

 trees generally. The succulent character of these plants will be 

 dealt with wdien speaking of adaptations of plants to dry climates. 

 The bitter juice will be mentioned as one of the protective characters 

 of plants. The forms and arrangement of the leaves form striking 

 examples when dealing with this part of the subject. The flowers 

 and fruits are, however, a regular godsend to the South African 

 teacher. 



The colour of the flowers is bright, and copious nectar is 

 secreted by them. At once we jump to the conclusion that we have 

 here an instance of a plant which is cross-pollinated by insects or 

 birds. Let us look, therefore, whether this is the case. We find, 

 without difficulty, that both sugar-birds and bees visit the flowers. 

 In drawing flowers of different ages, we notice that those which have 

 just opened only exhibit their stamens. These stamens discharge their 

 pollen and then wither (in some species they are withdrawn 

 altogether). About this time the style elongates and occupies 

 eventually the same place which the pollen-bearing receptacles, the 

 anthers, previously occupied. In other words, although the flower 

 has both male and female organs, it is at first in a male state, and 

 passes afterwards into the female state. The pollen of the flower 

 can, under ordinary circumstances, never reach the stigma of the 

 same flower. Some extraneous agency, birds or insects, is required 

 to effect pollination. The teacher can now show the origin of the 

 nectar, the position of the ovules. The floral diagram and the floral 

 formula can be constructed. When this is done we have pretty 

 well all the facts which I have quoted above, but the dry bones are 

 now clothed with flesh. 



But we have not done with the Aloe yet. The seeds afford 

 an excellent illustration of a type of plant which is easily spread by 

 the wind. They are exceedingly light, and present a large surface 

 to the wind when discharged. Now, we must have noticed that the 

 flowers are all pendulous. If the seed vessels, which open at the 

 top, were also hanging down, the elaborate arrangements in the 

 seeds to be spread about by the wind would be quite useless ; they 

 would probably all drop to the ground when there is no wind to 



