THE PLANT 



47 



petals at all. Look at the corn plant. Here the tassel is 

 a cluster of many flowers, each of which bears only stamens. 

 The ear is likewise a cluster of many flowers, each of which 

 bears only a pistil. The dust that you see falling from the 

 tassel is the pollen, and the long silky threads of the ear 

 are the stigmas. 



Now no plant can bear seeds unless the pollen of the 

 stamen fall upon the stigma. Corn cannot therefore make 

 seed unless the dust of the tassel fall upon the silk. 

 Did you ever 

 notice how 

 poorly the cob * r ' 

 is filled on a 

 single corn 



FIG. 35. SQUASH BLOSSOMS 



b 



stalk standing 

 alone in the 

 field ? Do you 



see why ? It is because that, when a plant stands 

 alone, the wind blows the pollen away from the 

 tassel, and little or none is received on the stigmas below. 

 In the corn plant the stamens and pistils are separate ; 

 that is, they do not occur on the same flower although 

 they are upon the same plant. This is also true of the 

 squash (see Fig. 35). In many plants, however, as the 

 hemp, hop, sassafras, willow, and others, the staminate parts 

 are on one plant and the pistillate parts are on another. 

 This is also true in several other cultivated plants. For 

 example, in some strawberries the stamens are absent or 

 useless; that is, they bear no good pollen. In such cases 

 the grower must see to it that near by are strawberry plants 

 that bear stamens in order that these plants which do not 



