FLOWERS 



A PATTERN FLOWER. 



lOHN M. COULTER. 



rX( )\VERS are of very many patterns, 

 and it must not be supposed that there 

 is any special pattern for them all. There 

 are four parts which belong- to flowers 

 in general, and they are repeated in va- 

 rious flowers in numberless ways, or one 

 •or more of the parts may' be omitted. 



The flower of the common wild lily, 

 chosen for our illustration, is highly or- 

 ganized, with all the parts represented 

 and well developed. Each part is con- 

 structed for some definite work, which we 

 may or may not fully understand. 



The flower of the illustration shows 

 on the outside six leaf-like bodies, colored 

 a deep orange or reddish, and bearing 

 dark spots. These six bodies are in two 

 sets of three — an outer and an inn?r set. 

 AVhen there are two sets of these leaf-like 

 bodies the outer set" is called the calyx. 

 and the inner one the corolla. The three 

 leaves of the calyx are called sepals, and 

 the three leaves of the corolla petals. 



In thfs case the sepals and petals look 

 alike, and then it i^ usual to speak of the 

 whole set of six as the perianth. In many 

 flowers, however, the sepals and petals do 

 not look at all alike. In the common 

 wake-robin, or Trillin in. a near relative of 

 the lily, the three sepals are like ordinary 

 small green leaves, while the petals are 

 much larger and showy, giving the char- 

 acteristic color to the flower. 



In the lily it should be further noticed 

 that the sepals and petals are all separate, 

 but in many flowers they are united in 

 various ways to form urns, tul)cs, fun- 

 nels, trumpets, etc. The common morn- 

 ing glorv is an illustration of a flower in 

 which the petals are united so as to form 

 a beautiful trumpet-shaped or funnel- 

 form corolla. 



The general purpo.se of the perianth, 

 that is, the two outer ])arts of the flower, 

 is to protect the far more important inner 



parts in the bud, and when the flower 

 opens the perianth unfolds and exposes 

 the inner parts, which are then ready for 

 their peculiar work. 



The bright color usually shown by the 

 corolla, and sometimes also by the calyx, 

 as in the lily, is probably associated with 

 the visits of insects, which come to the 

 flower for nectar or other food. Since it 

 has been found, however, that some visit- 

 ing insects are color blind, it is doubtful 

 whether the color is so universal an at- 

 traction as it was once thought to be, but 

 it is certainly associated with some sort of 

 important work. 



A summary of these various duties is as 

 follow'S : The green, 'leaf-like calyx is 

 certainly for bud protection ; the brightlv 

 colored corolla (and sometimes calyx) 

 adds to the duty of protection that of at- 

 tracting neces-sary insects, or some other 

 duty that we do not as yet understand. 



Just within the corolla the third part or 

 set appears, consisting of six stamens. 

 These six stamens are also in two sets of 

 three each, an outer and an inner one. 

 Each stamen consists of a long stalk-like 

 part, called the filanient. and at the sum- 

 mit of the filament is borne the anther, 

 which in the lilv consists of two long, 

 narrow pouches lying side by side. When 

 the anther is ripe these pouches are filled 

 with a yellow, powdery dust called the 

 pollen. Each particle of this dust-like 

 pollen consists of a minute, but beautiful- 

 Iv organized globular l)odv, known as the 

 pollen-grain. The anther pouches are 

 therefore full of pollen-grains. 



In the lily it will be noticed that when 

 th? anthers *are ripe and the ])ollen is 

 ready to be shed, a .slit opens lengthwise 

 in each of the two pouches or sacs. This 

 is the common method for opening the 

 anther sacs, but in some flowers it is cu- 

 riously modified. Eor exam])le, in the 



