628 The Outline of Science 



we see a complete new start, the production of new individuals, 

 the result of reproductive processes completed months before, in 

 the previous summer and autumn. (See the article on the 

 BIOLOGY OF THE SEASONS.) 



The Meaning of the Flower 



The seed the kernel in the nut, the pip in the apple- 

 comes from the fruit, and the fruit is the end of the flower. So 

 it is the flower that is concerned with the reproduction of the 

 higher plants. 



What is a flower? If we examine a buttercup or a lesser 

 celandine, we find to the outside a number five or more of 

 green scales, the sepals (together forming the calyx), which in 

 the bud protect the delicate internal parts, and afterwards steady 

 the full-blown flowers. Then comes the corolla of bright yellow 

 petals. Inside the corolla are numerous stamens, each with a 

 stalk or filament bearing a head, the anther, which contains the 

 pollen. In the centre are many -small green grains, the carpels, 

 in each of which is an ovule or possible seed, containing an egg- 

 cell. 



The shape, colour, number, and arrangement of these parts 

 vary greatly from flower to flower, and on the floral characters 

 the classification of the flowering plants is largely based. In 

 many flowers some of the parts are wanting or are greatly altered 

 in appearance. In the tulip the calyx, like the corolla, is brightly 

 coloured, and the carpels, three in number, are united to form 

 an ovary containing many ovules. This union of the carpels 

 occurs too in the poppy, foxglove, and many others. In the 

 grasses the calyx and corolla are absent, or represented by minute 

 scales ; the work of protection is taken over by small green leaves 

 which correspond to the three leaves which stand out below the 

 flower of the anemone. In the hazel there are flowers with sta- 

 mens only, gathered in golden drooping catkins, and flowers with 

 an ovary only, grouped in buds, each crowned with a tuft of 





