172 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



Floret above 



with pistil 





umbrella-shaped calyx, like berries in 

 a basket. 



Some plants, fertilised by the wind, 

 perfect their pistils before the stamens, 

 as we saw in the case of the two plan- 

 tains. In the sketch are seen two florets 

 of the common plantain, the upper in 

 the pistillate and the 

 lower in the staminate 

 stage. 



Many flowers grow 



J 



in stiff spikes with the 

 staminate above and 

 the pistillate below. 

 The cat-tail is a well-known type 

 of this arrangement. The burr- 

 reed shown in the drawing is a 

 singularly decorative plant of like 

 habit. 



Finally, we come to a class of 

 flowers, fertilised by the wind, 

 which discharge their pollen into 

 the air explosively. It is said that 

 the mulberry, the pelletory, and 

 the nettle are so organised. I 

 have read that between five and 

 BURR REED six o'clock of a dry morning one 



