The Flower 



129 



every year like a small plant that has only a few years 

 to live ; hence most trees do not bear flowers until 

 they are twenty or thirty years old, and some slow- 

 growing trees like the oak wait longer still. 



In order to see the different parts of which most 

 flowers are made up we will look at a single horse- 

 chestnut flower, taking it from the lower part of the 

 bunch (Fig. 64). You see that the flower consists of 

 four rings of different kinds. First a cup called the 

 calyx which covered up the flower completely when it 



Fig. 64. A . Horse-chestnut flower. B. Same flower cut in two, showing 

 pistil in centre. C. Single petal. 



was a bud and is composed of green sepals, not unlike 

 little leaves. Then come the coloured petals which 

 together form the corolla and are the showy part of 

 the flower. If you hold one of these up to the light 

 you will see how delicately veined it is. When the 

 petals are pulled off, the next layer is seen to be a 

 number of long stamens, with yellow pollen covering 

 their heads. These heads are really little boxes made 

 to hold the pollen. Right in the middle of the flower 

 G. 9 



