FLORAL FORMS AND THEIR RELATIONS TO INSECTS 313 



land Loosestrife or 

 Yellow Pimpernel, offer 

 familiar examples of a 

 solitary and axillary 

 flower. The Herb-paris 

 (P. quadrifolia, fig. 381) 

 bears solitary flowers, 

 too, but they are ter- 

 minal, not axillary. The 

 Herb-paris is one of the 

 most singular of our 

 wild-flowers, and, like 

 the Loosestrifes, delights 

 in moist and shady 

 woods. 



But solitary flowers, 

 whether axillary or ter- 

 minal, are the exception 

 rather than the rule. 

 In by far the greater 

 number of plants the 

 bud unfoldsinto a branch 

 system, consisting of 

 several flowers, which 

 are known collectively 

 as the inflorescence. The 

 Cowslip (Primula veris), 

 Cherry (Prunus cerasus), 

 and Forget-me-not (Myo- 

 sotis palustris) may serve 

 as examples. What is 

 popularly known as the 

 "flower" of the Daisy 

 (Bellis perennis) and 

 Dandelion (Taraxacum 

 officinale) is likewise an inflorescence ; each of the so-called flowers being 

 really a multitude of minute flowers (florets) crowded together on a single 

 stem. We will consider the structure of one of these composite flowers 

 later on. 



In describing a flower the presence or absence of a stalk should always 

 be noted. Stalkless or sessile flowers are comparatively rare, but the flower- 

 stems of stalked or pedicellate flowers may be so short as to be hardly 

 perceptible. No more remarkable instance of a sessile flower could be 

 named than that vegetable wonder, Rafilesia arnoldi, of which some account 



Photo by] [E. Step. 



FIG. 380. CUCKOO-PINT (Arum maculatum). 



The front part of the spathe has been cut away to show the minute flowers 

 around the base of the spadix. 



