PO LLIN A TION. 



287 



Bigeneric half-breed. A product of a cross between varieties of species 

 of different genera. 

 Mule. A sterile (seedless) hybrid. 



6ENERAL REQUIREMENTS. In order to understand 

 the methods of pollination, the reader must be able to 

 re")gaL:e the parts of the flower. The fuchsia, Fig. 

 ^ >, snows the parts distinctly. The open flower, on the right, 

 contains four well-marked series of organs. The first series is 

 composed of four narrow and leaf -like parts or sepals, collect- 

 ively called the calyx. Borne upon these is the corolla, made up 

 of four blunt and variously colored petals. The next series 

 comprises eight slender stamens or male organs (S). The thread- 

 like portions or stalks of these are 

 the filaments and upon them are 

 borne the anthers. The anthers 

 contain the pollen. The last and 

 innermost series is a pistil or 

 female organ (P). The pistil is 

 made up of three parts : the 

 ovary, which develops into the 

 seed-pod, the style or slender por- 

 tion, and the stigma, or enlarge- 

 ment at the end. The ovary in 

 this case is the oblong body borne 

 at the base of the flower and 

 upon which the other parts stand. 

 The style runs through the flower 

 to the ovary. 



The modifications of the flower 

 are numberless, both in form and 

 number of parts, but these four 

 series o f organs t he calyx, 

 corolla, stamens and pistils al- 

 ways comprise a complete flower 

 and they are arranged in the order 

 named. A perfect flower is one 

 which contain* both stamens and pistils without any reference 

 to the surrounding or leaf-like organs. Many flowers are im- 



Parts of the Flower. 



