122 THE GARDEN OF EARTH 



prepared sap passing through the plant — all these must 

 fail, unless a certain something takes plaee. 



A little of the golden pollen from one of the stamen- 

 anthers must somehow reach the stigma of the pistil, 

 and must send a slender tube-like growth down the 

 style or stalk, to reach and touch the ovule below. 



And then, from this meeting, this union, of a pollen- 

 grain with an ovule, a seed is formed; and in time, 

 under right conditions, a new young plant — child of 

 the old plant — may be expected to spring from it. 



It might at first sight seem rather curious that, while 

 this union of the two is so vitally needful, all sorts of 

 difficulties seem to be put in the way of its coming about. 



Matters would be so easy, if only the stamens of a 

 flower were always nicely arranged just around and 

 over the pistil of that flower. Then, when the pollen 

 is ripe and the ovules below are ready for it, and the 

 anthers are opening, a passing breeze and the swaying 

 of the plant would shake down some of the loosening 

 golden dust upon the pistil-tip, exactly where it is 

 wanted. 



But that is by no means what usually happens. 



Perhaps the pistil grows very tall, standing up and 

 away from the stamen-tips. And when the pollen 

 falls, it drops down below, wide of the stigmas, and is 

 blown away by the wind. 



Or the stamens themselves grow long, leaving behind 

 the short pistil-tips, and the plant droops over on one 

 side; and again, when the pollen escapes it does not 

 touch the pistil. 



Sometimes a plant has two kinds of flowers growing 



