FLOWERS, THEIR STRUCTURE AND KINDS 159 



263. The staminate flowers of Indian corn. Each spike- 

 let is made up of two flowers, one bearing perfect stamens, and 

 another, usually sterile, bearing imperfect stamens, or none. The 

 two flowers in the spikelet are enclosed by two small boot-shaped, 

 ribbed and partially 



green bracts, known as 



empty glumes, one for 



each flower. If we dis- 



sect the flower by 



spreading these empty 



glumes apart, and with 



needles loosen from the 



inside the other parts of 



the flowers, we shall 



find that in the flower 



with perfect stamens, 



for example, there is 



another membranous 



bract which lies next 



the empty glume and 



often fits closely within it. This is the flowering glume, so called 



because it lies next the stamens. Upon the other side of the 



stamens is another membranous bract, the palea. 



264. The stamens are three in number, which is the rule in 

 the grasses and cereals. The filaments are long and slender. 

 The anthers are two-loculed, being separate at each end and con- 

 nected by the tissue of the " connective" for the greater part of 

 their length. The filament is attached to the side of one end of 

 this connective. Each locule of the anther is grooved on its 

 outer face, so that it appears to be made up of two lobes, but 

 there is really only one. At the time of flowering the filaments 

 elongate and lift the anthers far out of the flower. The fila- 

 ments being slender and delicate are bent over by the weight of 

 the anther, which dangles here and is easily agitated by the wind. 

 The anther sacs open on the outer side of the free end. A split 

 occurs in the wall along the groove for a short distance and the 



Fig. 117. 

 Open staminate flowers of Indian corn. 



