164 GLIMPSES IXTO PI.A XT-LIFE 



to identify each separate organ ; when these are 

 once arranged on a card with the name of each 

 part written beneath it, we shall have attained 

 some ver}' useful information read}- for future 

 stud)'. 



Tn the buttercuj) flower all the fixe petals are 

 the same size and shape ; therefore, like hundreds 

 of other evenl)'-formcd blossoms, it would be 

 described as "regular" ; but if we take a sweet- 

 l^ea, balsam, or monkshood-flowcr and examine its 

 separate petals, we shall find the}- vary \'ery much 

 in form, and the}- are known as " irregular " 

 flowers. 



The sweet-pea is a t}pe of a large order of 

 plants producing what are called butterfly-shaped 

 flowers, and papilio being Latin for a butterfly, 

 they are therefore called papilionaceous flowers. 

 If we learn clearh' about the \arious parts of such 

 a flo\\'er we shall henceforth be able to recognise it 

 at a glance. 



In the sweet-pea we find a broad petal at the 

 back of the flower which is called the standard, 

 beneath it are the two side petals called wings, and 

 within them is the keel, so named because it is 



