LHE PLANE 19 
Double flowers are artificial productions obtained through in- 
tense culture. In these the essential parts have developed into 
colored petals; for this reason most double flowers produce 
no fruit. In Orchids the flowers are of a peculiar shape, all 
the essential parts being joined together and dependent upon 
insects for fertilization. The flowers are sometimes protected 
by colored bracts or spathes, as in the case of the common 
Calla. With regard to the inflorescence, flowers are generally 
produced together: in vacemes when stalked and springing 
from one main stem or peduncle; in corymbs when the flow- 
ers, disposed one above the other on a main peduncle, form 
a flat cluster; in wmdel/ls when the pedicels spring from a 
common point; in sfekes when the flowers of a raceme are 
sessile. The flowers of the Calla are collected in a fleshy spike 
and protected by a showy leaf called sfathe. Many compo- 
sitions of these original types are found. Flowers are some- 
times produced singly from the axis of leaves, and are then said 
to be axillary. In Plate II. the most common types of flowers 
and flower-clusters are illustrated. 
The fruit is sometimes as ornamental as the flower, but a 
superficial glance at fruits and seeds is all that can be spared. 
As flowers are simply modified branches, so the different parts 
of a flower are only modified leaves. Even the most altered 
parts, viz., the stamens and pistils, are simply modifications of 
the green parts of the plant. The fruit consists, therefore, of 
one or more altered leaves joined together and enclosing one 
or more seeds. ‘This is most apparent in such types as the Pea 
and Bean, or in the carpel of a Peony. In berries and stone- 
fruits all parts are greatly modified. A fruit is anything con- 
taining one or more seeds, from the dry capsule of a flax-plant 
to the succulent product of a water-melon. ‘The seed is the 
