THE FLO WEE 



109 



by the plant, or the stamens in the individual flowers, are 

 very numerous, the pollen may be exceedingly 

 abundant. 



206. In a few families the stamens are regularly 

 united, either by the anthers as in the Composite, 

 of which the Daisy is an example; or by the fila- 

 ments, as in the Mallows and 



the LeguminosoB (e.g. the Sweet- 

 pea, Bean, etc., Figs. 146-148). 



207. The pistils collectively are 

 known as the gynoecium ; the 

 stamens as the andrcecium. It 

 is well to hold clearly in mind 

 that these two groups of organs, u6 



though often concealed Or ren- 146-148. United stamens: 146, of a 



, j . . plant of the Pulse family ; 



dered inconspicuous by the vi- 147, in the Mallow family; 



cinity of highly colored floral 148 > stamens united by 



anthers in the Composite 



envelopes, are essentially the family, 



flower. That is to say, pistils 



and stamens perform the essential function of the flower ; 



and the floral leaves 

 act a subordinate 

 part. Not very 

 rarely flowers con- 

 sist of pistils or 

 stamens alone. 

 This is practically 

 the case in the 

 Willows. The familiar 

 catkins are of two kinds. 

 The more showy ones 

 are made up of numer- 

 ous flowers, each com- 

 prising stamens, usually 

 two, with a scale at the 

 base. In catkins of the 

 other sort each minute 

 flower is composed of 



149 



150 



152 



151 



149-152. Flowers of a Willow: 149, staminate 

 catkin ; 150, one of the flowers ; 151 , pis- 

 tillate catkin ; 152, a pistillate flower. 



