Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 



METHODS OF REPRODUCTION OF PLANTS. 



All living creatures are so constructed as to be 

 capable of reproducing their kind. In fact, with all 

 the lower Orders, that is the one object in their life. 

 We have seen that flowers have stamens and pistils. 

 These are the reproductive organs; the calyx, petals, 

 nectar and fragrance are for other purposes as we 

 shall see later. 



The simple pistil is composed of three most im- 

 portant parts: At the summit is a stigma, this usual- 

 ly being sticky; just below is a slender tube called 

 the style; at the base, the pistil is enlarged or swol- 

 len and contains the ovules or undeveloped seeds. 

 The simple stamen is composed of a slender filament 

 supporting at its end a little case or enlargement con- 

 taining a fine powder-like substance called pollen. 



The relationship between the pistil and the stam- 

 ens was first discovered by a botanist named Grew, 

 in the 17th century. His discovery, later confirmed 

 by Linnaeus, was that in order for the seed to be de- 

 veloped, pollen from the anther must come in contact 

 with the stigma, thence being transmitted through 

 the style to the seeds below and quickening them to 

 life. 



Many puzzling propositions occurred, that these 

 scientists were unable to unravel, as, "if the stam- 

 ens were shorter than the pistil, how could the pollen 

 ever reach the stigma?" It remained for Sprengel, 

 late in the 18th century to declare that pollen was 

 carried from the anthers to the stigma by insects 



