44 



BOTANY 



wasted. Therefore in such plants several thousand; perhaps 

 hundreds of thousands of pollen grains will be developed to 

 every ovule produced. Such are the pines. In May and early 

 June the ground under pine trees is often yellow with pollen, 

 and the air may be filled with the dust for miles from the trees. 

 Such, also, is the case with many of the grasses, the pollen 

 being produced in such abundance that it causes a disease called 

 hay fever. 



(2) The pistil of the flower is peculiarly fitted to retain the 

 pollen by having feathery^ projections along the sides which in- 



The staminate flower of the corn. Notice the hanging anthers full of pollen. 



crease the stigmatic surface. This can be seen in the grass. In 

 the Indian corn the stigmatic surface is thfe so-called silk which 

 protrudes beyond the covering of modified leaves which form the 

 husk of the ear of corn. All our grains, wheat, rye, oats, and 

 others, have the typical feathery pistil of the wild grasses from 

 which they descended. 



