FLOWERS 



A PATTERN FLOWER. 



JOHN M. COULTER. 



FLOWERS are of very many patterns, 

 and it must not be supposed that there 

 is any special pattern for them all. There 

 are four parts which belong to flowers 

 in general, and they are repeated in va 

 rious flowers in numberless ways, or one 

 or more of the parts may be omitted. 



The flower of the common wild lily, 

 chosen for our illustration, is highly or 

 ganized, with all the parts represented 

 and well developed. Each part is con 

 structed for some definite work, which we 

 may or may not fully understand. 



The flower of the illustration shows 

 on the outside six leaf-like bodies, colored 

 a deep orange or reddish, and bearing 

 dark spots. These six bodies are in two 

 sets of three an outer and an inner set. 

 When there are two sets of these leaf-like 

 bodies the outer set is called the calyx, 

 and the inner one the corolla. The three 

 leaves of the calyx are called sepals, and 

 the three leaves of the corolla petals. 



In this case the sepals and petals look 

 alike, and then it is usual to speak of the 

 whole set of six as the perianth. In many 

 flowers, however, the sepals and petals do 

 not look at all alike. In the common 

 . wake-robin, or Trillium, a near relative of 

 the lily, the three sepals are like ordinary 

 small green leaves, while the petals are 

 much larger and showy, giving the char 

 acteristic color to the flower. 



In the lily it should be further noticed 

 that the sepals and petals are all separate, 

 but in many flowers they are united in 

 various ways to form urns, tubes, fun 

 nels, trumpets, etc. The common morn 

 ing glory is an illustration of a flower in 

 which the petals are united so as to form 

 a beautiful trumpet-shaped or funnel- 

 form corolla. 



The general purpose of the perianth, 

 that is, the two outer parts of the flower, 

 -is to protect the far more important inner 



parts in the bud, and when the flower 

 opens the perianth unfolds and exposes 

 the inner parts, which are then ready for 

 their peculiar work. 



The bright color usually shown by the 

 corolla, and sometimes also by the calyx, 

 as in the lily, is probably associated with 

 the visits of insects, which come to the 

 flower for nectar or other food. Since it 

 has been found, however, that some visit 

 ing insects are color blind, it is doubtful 

 whether the color is so universal an at 

 traction as it was once thought to be, but 

 it is certainly associated with some sort of 

 important work. 



A summary o^hese various duties is as 

 follows: Thefljreen, leaf-like calyx is 

 certainly for bud protection ; the brightly 

 colored corolla (and sometimes calyx) 

 adds to the duty of protection that of at 

 tracting necessary insects, or some other 

 duty that we do not as yet understand. 



Just within the corolla the third part or 

 set appears, consisting of six stamens. 

 These six stamens are also in two sets of 

 three each, an outer and an inner one. 

 Each stamen consists of a long stalk-like 

 part, called the filament, and at the sum 

 mit of the filament is borne the anther, 

 which in the lily consists of two long, 

 narrow pouches lying side by side. When 

 the anther is ripe these pouches are filled 

 with a yellow, powdery- dust called the 

 pollen. Each particle of this dust-like 

 pollen consists of a minute, but beautiful 

 ly organized globular body, known as the 

 pollen-grain. The anther pouches are 

 therefore full of pollen-grains. 



In the lily it will be noticed that when 

 the anthers are ripe and the pollen is 

 ready to be shed, a slit opens lengthwise 

 in each of the two pouches or sacs. This 

 is the common method for opening the 

 anther sacs, but in some flowers it is cu 

 riously modified. For example, in the 



