i 9 4 THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 



stem are arranged in a ring ; the leaves are net-veined ; 

 and the parts of the flower are usually disposed in fours or 

 fives. Further, the seeds have two cotyledons, and they 

 therefore all belong to the same great class of flowering 

 plants called Dicotyledons. 



We now proceed to a few examples belonging to the 

 other great class, the Monocotyledons. 



CHAPTER XIV 



BIOLOGY OF THE FLOWER (Continued) 



Monocotyledons 



Hypogynous flowers, with three parts in each whorl. 

 Another type of flower, constructed on a different plan 

 from the preceding, is represented by plants such as the 

 Bluebell and the Daffodil. The flowers of the Bluebell 

 arise on the upper part of a long leafless axis or scape 

 (Fig. 133, 1). Each flower (Fig. 133, 2) is attached by 

 a stalk or pedicel, at the base of which are two long, narrow, 

 coloured bracts which cover the young flowers when in 

 bud (br). An inflorescence of this kind with stalked 

 flowers, of which the oldest is at the bottom and the others 

 are in succession younger as we near the top, is called a 

 raceme. 



The parts of the flowers are arranged very regularly in 

 threes (trimerous). On the outside are three sepals, then 

 three petals, and the six are slightly joined together at 

 the base. Here the sepals and petals are all similar and 

 coloured, and the name perianth may be used to indicate 

 the two whorls when they are not differentiated into calyx 

 and corolla. There are six stamens, three outer and three 

 inner, fixed below the pistil, which is in the centre and 



