THE BEAN FLOWER 



297 



flower and within the group of stamens is the pistil. Tin- 

 stamens and pistil are the important parts <»l' the bean flower 

 because they produce the bean seed (Figures 306 and 307). 

 The stamen bears in the enlarged tip many minute bodies 



which are known as pollen or pollen grains 

 (Latin, pollen, fine flour). The pistil is 

 divided into three parts: (1) a slightly ex- 

 panded and sticky tip, the stigma (Greek, 

 stigma, point); (2) a slender portion con- 

 necting the stigma with the much larger base, 

 the style (Greek, stylos, pillar) ; (3) and the swol- 

 len base, the ovary (Latin, ovum, egg~). See 

 Figure 306. The ovary contains small, rounded 

 bodies called ovules which ripen into seeds. 



The bean flower is a complete flower, be- 

 cause it has all of these parts: calyx, corolla, 

 stamens, and pistil. It is also said to be 

 perfect because it contains in the same flower 

 the two organs needed to produce seeds, the 

 pistil and stamens. 



The word pollination is used to describe the 

 carrying of the pollen from the anther of the 

 stamen to the stigma of the pistil. This may 

 be done by the wind, by insects, or by the 

 contact of a stamen with a stigma. The bean 

 flower secretes a sweet fluid, nectar, at its base, 

 which is the fluid the bees gather to make in t « » 

 honey. When a bee alights on a bean flower, it pushes 

 its head among the inner parts to get the nectar. In 

 withdrawing its head, pollen is brushed off and the hairy 

 body of the bee, especially the head, is covered with it. 

 When the bee puts its head into the nexi bean flower, 

 some of this pollen is caught by the sticky stigma past 

 which the bee has to push to get the nectar. Thus the 



Figure 306. 

 — Diagram 

 of Stamen 

 (above) and 

 Pistil (be- 

 low). 



