DEVELOPMENT OF PLANTS 



375 



sists of a long filament attached to the middle of the anther so 

 that the latter organ can swing at the end of the filament, an 

 arrangement known as the versatile anther. The stigma is 

 often brightlv colored and of a delicate feathery character, indi- 



Fig. 283. Inflorescence of a grass : 1, tip of stem with flowers arranged 

 in spike-like inflorescences. 2, a single spike enlarged at time of flowering. 

 4, diagram showing structure of spike. At base two sterile bracts, above 

 three flowers, each enclosed by an outer firm bract and an inner more 

 delicate bract. /, lodicules. At apex of spike a sterile flower. 5, another 

 species of grass, showing the scattering of the microspores. 



eating that the plants are anemophilous. The ovary contains 

 a single ovule. The manner of flowering of the numerous 

 genera of this order varies. In many cases the stigmas are 

 first extruded from the bracts and can therefore only be crossed 

 with the microspores from some earlier flowering plant. In 

 other instances, stigmas and anthers are extended together and 

 in some genera no injury results from the transfer of the micro- 

 spores to the stigmas of the same flower. It is worth any one's 



