THE STUDY OF FLOWERS. 237 



Feathery or hairy styles to which pollen readily adheres, 

 e.g. Grasses, many forest trees, e.g. Birch, 

 Hornbeam, Hazel, etc. 



Unisexual Flowers. Conifers, Poplars, 

 Birch, Alder, Hornbeam, Beech, Oak, Ash, 

 etc, (Figs. 103 to 109). These flowers 

 are grouped in staminate (male) catkins 

 and carpellary (female) catkins, or in the 

 case of many of the conifers male and 

 female cones. In connection with obser- 



,. it -T T , Fig. 110. Flower or 



vations made by pupils regarding times lab, with two t- 



of flowering of trees, notes should be ^fft^^nSi 



made regarding the order of ripening of mas. The Ash 



the female and male flowers and of those Sxulf flowTrs 



cases where flowers mature before the on the same tree, 

 leaves unfold. The significance of this 

 in relation to pollination by wind is of course obvious. 



AESTHETIC VALUE OF FLOWERS. 



The flower having been studied from the point of view 

 of a race-preserving organ, we would once more seek to 

 emphasise its aesthetic value. Man delights in flowers 

 all through life, and this aspect must find a place in 

 nature studies in school. 



An excellent way of giving prominence to this is to 

 emphasise their decorative value by having flowers in 

 pots and also cut flowers in the schoolrooms as much as 

 possible. Flower-growing indoors by the pupils, as well as 

 flower-growing in the school garden, should form a definite 

 part of the work as an end in itself, as distinct from ex- 

 perimental growing for instruction. It is also appropriate 

 that some of the references to flowers either in general or 

 to particular cases occurring in literature form part of the 

 memory work of the pupils. Teachers should take some 

 pains to find suitable subjects appropriate to some of the 

 flower studies engaged in in school. See The Greenwood 

 Tree (Arnold). 



