MEDICINAL 

 AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



Iv 



CHAPTER I 



X 



THE STRUCTURE OF THE FLOWER 



Some knowledcre of the structure of flowers is a 

 necessary qualification for the study of poisonous and 

 medicinal plants, for many plants can be identified by 

 their flowers, and in many cases difficulties of identi- 

 fication can be solved by an appeal to the flower. Let 

 ns take for an example a common flower like the Butter- 

 cup and dissect it. The reader should compare a living- 

 specimen of this flower with fig. 1 and make certain that 



he can identify all the parts. 



Each complete Jlower consists of four different struc- 

 tures arranged in whorls at the apex of a stalk. The 

 two outerm'ost beginning from the outside are called 



•espectively the calyx and the corolla. The^calyx con- 

 sists of 8epal% and the corolla of -petals. 



Thus 



oreen 



the corolla of five yellow petals. Inside the corolla are 

 the sfamsiis; each of these is composed of a stalk which 

 supports at its end an expanded structure called the 

 anther. The last-named contains the pollen grains; 

 these are liberated when ripe by the splitting of the 

 anther. In the Buttercup the stamens are numerous. 



