216 



THE WHITE PIKE. 



Pinus Strobus : 1, a branchlet with staminate flowers ; 2, branchlet with pistillate 

 flowers ; 3, a carpellary scale with its bract ; 4, the same seen from within, with its 

 2 ovules turned downward ; 5, an anther ; 6, a grain of pollen (triple) ; 7, a ripe cone 

 with its scales relaxed. 



neither is there any proper ovary or seed-vessel. The car- 

 pellary scales which should invest the ovules and seeds, only 

 subtend them ; hence they are truly naked.* The embryo, 

 resting in oily albumen, has 3-12 cotyledons. 



* Fertilization is effected by the direct application of the pollen to the ovule 

 instead of to an intervening stigma. The wind is the agent for conveying the pollen 

 to its place. (See Note, p. 31.) There is therefore no need of attracting insects by bril- 

 liant colors and pleasing perfumes ; hence the flowers are inconspicuous and inodorous. 



