22 WALL'S M A N u A L 



Various parts of the plant, and in some mysterious 

 way assumes the different forms of organic struc- 

 ture, producing stems and leaves, flowers and fruit. 



FLOWERS AND FRUIT, 



Growth, decay and death mark the history of 

 every individual upon the globe, whether plant or 

 animal. If, then, animals and plants possessed not 

 the power of reproduction, our world would become a 

 bleak and barren waste. The reproductive organs of 

 plants are found in the flower, which is the expan- 

 sion of the flower-bud. These by their combined 

 influence bring the seed to maturity, and thus pro- 

 duce the germ of the new plant. 



The essential organs for the production of seed in 

 any plant are called the "stamen" and "pistil" They 

 are not always found in the same flower, They often 

 grow on different flowers on the same stalk. In 

 such cases the flowers containing the stamens are 

 called "stamenitc" and those containing the pistil are 

 called " pistilate" For example, Indian corn has its 

 stamens in the tassel, and its pistils in the ear- shoot. 

 The tassel then is stamenite flower, while the shoot 

 with its silk is the pistulato flower. The stamenite 

 is barren, the pistilate produces seed. 



The end to be accomplished by the stamens and 

 pistils is to fertilize the seed. Pollen is produced in 

 the anthus of the stamens, which in the proper sea- 

 son fall upon the stigma of the pistils, Without the 

 pollen no seed would be produced. If we cut the 

 tassel off of an isolated stalk of corn before the silk 

 has appeared, no seed can be produced. But if other 



