PARTS OF A FLOWER. 7 



Germen or seed-bud, which is the thickest green 

 part at the bottom, the Style which stands upon 

 it, and the Summit, or top of the style. When 

 the petals fall off, after the plant has been in flower 

 for some time, the germen grows larger, and is then 

 called the Seed-vessel, because it contains the seeds 

 within it. In the Wall-flower, the seed-vessel is a 

 long pod, containing several flat se^Is. If you 

 now pull off the stamens and pistil, you may per- 

 ceive what is called the Receptacle : it is only the 

 top of the stalk, to which all the other parts of the 

 flower is fixed. 



EDWARD. 



I have done so ; but I do not see any thing 

 remarkable. 



MOTHER. 



You are right. In many flowers the receptacle 

 is not very conspicuous, and the Wall-flower is one 

 of them ; but in others it is very large, particularly 

 in the Artichoke, which you sometimes see at din- 

 ner. What we commonly call the bottom, which 

 remains, after we have taken off the leaves, and the 

 bristly substance, or choke, is the receptacle. 



Another part of a flower, as well as the recep- 

 tacle, is very often indistinct. It is called the 

 Nectary, and its use is supposed to be to prepare 

 a sweet fluid, like honey or nectar, which it 

 frequently contains. It is from this part that bees 

 collect their honey. The form of the nectary 

 B 4 



