80 THE PINK. 



to 5, 4, or even 3.* Also late in the season they omit their 

 petals, or develop some mere rudiments only. 



The ^ruit comes to be a capsule with 1 cell opening by 

 6 valves (or 3 split valves). The placenta stands in the 

 center (free-central), covered with seeds which have a black, 

 sculptured coat {testa), and a curved embryo around mealy 

 albumen. (See Fig. XVII, 4.) 



The Scientific Name of Ohickweed is Stelldria media, 

 the former in allusion to the silvery stars {stella, a star) of 

 its blossoms, and the latter to its abundance {media, com- 

 mon). The chickadee and the chickens are fond of the 

 plump seeds ; hence the name CMckweed. The genus Stel- 

 laria is distinguished by having 5 bifid petals and 3 stig- 

 mas. 



XVIII. THE PINK. 



Description. — The Garden Pinks and Carnations, so 

 varied in form and coloring, are supposed to have descended 

 from a single species known in Europe as Clove Pink, a 

 native of the Southern Alps. In all its diversities it retains 

 and is known by its glaucous evergreen foliage. We will 

 take the common single Pink as the type. 



Analysis, — The Leaf Eegiok is complicated, especially 

 in the older plants. A caudex (a woody, leafless, close- 

 jointed stem) with its root-end dissolving into fibers, divides 

 above into many prostrate, tangled branches, which become 

 herbaceous and leafy at their upturned ends. Here the true 

 stems [caulis) begin, with lengthened internodes between 

 the tumid nodes, bearing a pair of opposite, linear, sessile,- 



* The student will observe that the stamens come to maturity and shed their pol- 

 len before the stigmas are ripe. This prevents self-fertilization. (See p. 82.) The 

 amount of honey secreted in these flowers must be infinitesimally small. By an 

 elaborate calculation, Wilson concludes that it would require 2.500,000 florets like 

 those of the White Clover to yield 1 pound of honey ! This gives some 'dea of the 

 industry of the bee, and the amount of labor represented in every honeycomb. 



