FLOWERS 



these fruits take the form of dry pods, 

 some of which may be seen in the illus- 

 tration. Such pods have various ways of 

 opening to discharge their ripened seeds. 



In many cases the commonly recog- 

 nized fruit includes more than the ovary. 

 For example, in the apple and pear the 

 modified ovary^is represented by what is 

 called the "core," and the pulpy part out- 

 side, forming the edible part of the fruit, 

 is the thickened calyx. In the strawberry 

 the real fruits are the small, nut-like 

 "pits" which are more or less imbedded in 

 the surface, while the pulpy part is the 

 very much enlarged and fleshy tip of the 

 stem which bore the numerous carpels. 

 In the pineapple the change involves a 

 whole flower cluster, and a pineapple is a 

 cluster of flowers which has formed a 

 pulpv mass, flowers, leaves, stems, and 

 all. 



From what has been said it will be no- 

 ticed that some fruits ripen dry, as in the 

 case of the lily pod, bean pod, etc., and 

 that others ripen fleshy, as in the case of 

 apples, strawberries, etc. It must not be 

 supposed that flesh can only be formed by 

 parts outside of the ovary, for the peach 



is a modified ovary, whose wall has sep- 

 arated into two layers, the outer of which 

 forms the pulp, and the inner the "stone," 

 the kernel within the stone being the real 

 seed. 



Whatever form or structure the fruit 

 may take, everything is with reference to 

 the dispersal of the seeds, which must be 

 carried to places suitable for their ger- 

 mination. How seeds are carried about 

 is a long story, which must be deferred to 

 some later time, but it belongs to the gen- 

 eral subject of flowers. 



It will be seen from the above brief ac- 

 count that flowers occur in almost infinite 

 variety, so that we are able to tell the va- 

 rious groups of flowering plants by the 

 kind of flowers they produce. Amidst all 

 of this infinite variety, however, there are 

 but two purposes shown, the variety be- 

 ing merely the difi^erent ways in which 

 different plants have carried them out. 

 These two purposes are the securing of 

 pollination, in order that seeds may be 

 formed, and the proper distribution of the 

 seeds. All structures found in flowers 

 should be made to answer these two prob- 

 lems. 



GOD'S HANDIWORK. 



JOHN WESLEY WAITE. 



How beauteous every shade 

 On Spring's awakened trees ! 



How perfect the colors laid 

 Bv His most kind decrees ! 



