IJO 



GLIMPSES INTO PLANT-LIFE 



similar, but in them there are no stamens, the 

 centre of each flower being occupied by a small 

 pistil, and thus we learn that there are two distinct 

 sexes in the bryony plant, the one bearing only 

 staminate flowers, and the other 

 producing those bearing only 

 j:)istils. Such plants are termed 

 dicecious, from di, two, and oikos, 

 a house. 



One of the earliest spring 

 flowers is the arum of the hedges, 

 known to village children as 

 "lords and ladies." Accustomed 

 as we are to bright-hued flowers 

 in our gardens and fields, it is 

 somewhat difficult to recognise 

 that the pale-green sheath of 

 the arum is a flower at all. It 

 consists of a beautifully-folded 

 spathe or bract, curving over at 

 the top, and if we remove that we find a central 

 stalk bearing a number of little naked flowers, 

 arranged in the order shown in the plate. 



First, below the club-like apex, a few hairs tend- 



WU.I) AKUM. 



