138 



The Flower 



flower stalks on the main stem. The simplest form is 

 seen when these stalks are all about the same length 

 and are arranged alternately all the way up the main 

 stem. This form is seen in the barberry and the 

 laburnum (Fig. 66). In both of these the arrangement is 

 perfectly regular and each stalk has a bract at its base. 

 If these stalks are missing so that the flowers grow 

 straight out from the main stem, as happens in the 



Fig. 68. Pear flowers. 



willow catkins, we have a second kind of flower head 

 (Fig. 67). If the main stem is flattened at the top and 

 the flowers grow on the flat part we have a result like 

 the cornflower, in which a single head is made up of a 

 number of small flowers. Sometimes, again, we see a 

 form in which the stalks are there, and are arranged 

 alternately as in the barberry, but, instead of all being 

 the same length, the lower stalks grow a good deal 



