THE GARDEK VIOLETS. 



shaped lobe ; that is, they are auriculate (auricula, a little 

 ear). The five stamens are oddly constructed (3). Hitherto 

 we have seen the anther as in the Crowfoots, innate, i. e., 

 home on the top of the filament ; but here it is adnate, 

 i. e., attached to the side of the filament below the top. 

 Then two of the filaments project a little spur into the spur 

 of the odd petal ! 



The Fruit. The club-shaped style bears an oblique, 

 hood-shaped stigma. The 1-celled ovary ripens into a 

 1-celled, 3-valved capsule with three parietal placentae. 

 (See page 66.) When the valves open they display each a 

 placenta along its middle covered with seeds. Why is the 

 seed (5) anatropous? Why dico- 

 tyledonous? What is the ratio of 

 the albumen and the embryo ? 



Cleislogen e Flowers . The 

 early flowers just described seem 

 to be intended chiefly for display, 

 as they often prove infertile. Later 

 in the season the plant produces 

 flowers on very short scapes, hid- 

 den beneath the leaves, or even in 

 the soil, destitute of petals, but 

 always fertile (See (9), where a is a 

 flower, b a fruit). Such flowers are cleistogene (never open), 

 and it is remarkable that their anthers produce but few 

 grains of pollen, barely one to each ovule.* 



9, Cleistogene flowers of 

 V. cucullata. 



* Here is illustrated the economy of Nature, at one time lavish, at another frugal, 

 but always for a reason. When the pollen is to he carried hy chance insects, or per- 

 haps by the wind to distant flowers, an immense amount must needs be wasted. But 

 when it is confined in the closed flower, a very little answers the purpose. In this 

 case there is no need of insect help, and consequently the flowers have no tall stem 

 to push them out into notice, no fragrance, no color, no honey, and indeed no petals. 

 Yet they often bear more seeds than the so-called flowers. There is something 

 almost human in the self-sacrifice of these flowers to sheer duty. 



