COMPOSITE. 63 



with five notches ; why do they not represent 

 the five united petals ? We notice these 

 notches in the chicory and in most other ray 

 flowers of this family. The ray 

 flowers in the coreopsis have no 

 stamens or pistils : they are neutral 

 flowers. The disk flower has two 

 deflexed stigmas, below which is the 

 ring of five united anthers. The ^^' ^ ' 

 anthers and stigmas are enlarged in Fig. 52. 

 Each of the disk flowers is subtended by a 

 bract or bristle, one of which is shown in 

 Fig. 51. In all the composite flowers the 

 receptacle is greatly developed, usually pre- 

 senting a nearly flat, expanded surface. In 

 the cultivated sunflowers this 

 receptacle, with its covering of 

 florets, is often over a foot 

 across. Fig. 53 represents a 

 floret of the pestiferous Canada 

 thistle. At its lower extremity 

 is the ovary, which ripens into Fig. 53. 

 the one-seeded fruit. On its apex is borne 

 the downy pappus, which answers to the 

 calyx, and the five-parted corolla is seen 

 above. Here, then, the ovary is inferior ; 

 in the rosaceous flowers we found it to be 

 superior to the calyx. The pappus may con- 



