CHAPTER XVI. 



FLOWERS, THEIR STRUCTURE AND KINDS. 



IN some of the preceding chapters all parts of the plant have 

 been studied except the members of the flower shoot which will 

 be studied now. 



224. The flower is not only a very interesting, usually beauti- 

 ful and conspicuous part of the plant, but it is a very import- 

 ant structure. The chief end towards which the plant works 



is the production of 



seed or some other 

 structure of similar 

 function, for the mul- 

 tiplication of its kind. 

 The flower performs 

 a very important work 

 in the production of 

 seed. The seed is 

 formed in certain parts 

 of the flower. The 

 organs concerned in 

 the process of pollina- 

 tion and fertilization, 

 which are necessary 

 (except in very rare 

 cases) for the develop- 



Flg. 102. 



Flower cluster of Rhododendron maximum. ment of the Seed, are 



formed in the flower 



or have a very intimate nutritive dependence on some of its 

 parts. Many flowers have certain conspicuous, often beauti- 

 fully colored members, which, it is believed, attract insects that 

 aid in pollination. Other members are present in most flowers 



140 



