Lily-kin and Rose-kin 



147 



of stamens, or, to speak strictly, of reduced 

 staminate flowers, inserted directly on the central 

 stalk and mingled with long hairs. By latter July 

 the stamens have shed their pollen and shrivelled, 

 and they and their accompanying hairs have 

 dropped off, leaving a bare stalk behind them. 

 The darker and more substantial lower-story is a 



FIG. 35. Single florets of the cat-tail flag. 



a, Young staminate (or male) floret; b, older staminate (or male) floret; c, pis- 

 tillate (or female) floret. 



mass of blossoms, each reduced to a little stalk 

 bearing one pistil and a few bristles. When the 

 ovaries have ripened into minute fruits not seeds, 

 though we should incline to call them so the bristles 

 will buoy them up on the autumn winds and enable 

 them to fly far in search of new homes (Fig. 35). 

 To the evolutionary botanist the little stalk 



