The Flower. 



99 



of several individual flowers in the same flower-head. 

 The sun-flower (Fig. 50) is a familiar example of a 

 composite flower. One of the separate flowers is shown 

 in Fig. 51. At the outer edge of the flower-head, is a 

 row of individual flowers, each of which has a long, 



yellow, petal-like 

 appendage (Fig. 

 52), called a ray. 

 The flowers bear- 

 ing rays are called 

 ray-flowers. Some 

 composite flowers 

 as of the tansy* 

 are without ray- 

 flowers. 



FIG. 50. Cross-section of flower-head of 



sunflower, Helianthus annuus. Reduced. 148. The FiOW- 

 The florets appear closely crowded in the 

 center of the head. e rs of the Grass 



Familyf to which the cereals belong, as well as corn, 

 sorghum, sugar cane, etc., are quite different from 

 those of most other plants. In this family, the flowers 

 are arranged in little groups, 

 each of which is called a 

 spiJcelet. What we call a 

 'head of wheat is made up 

 of a number of spikelets, 

 one of which is shown in 

 Fig. 53. Fig. 54 shows the 

 spikelet dissected. The two 



scale-like parts at the base, SU F?G.1;2 r ' Ray -flower of same, 

 g. g., are called glumes. The similar pair above, tipped 



* Tanacetum vulgare. f Graminece. 



FIG. 52. 

 Enlarged floret of 



