66 



OBJECT LESSONS IN BOTANY. 



how the form of the slender stamen gradually changes to 

 the broad petal, the anther becoming smaller and smaller. 

 One can scarcely say where it ceases to be a stamen and 

 begins to be a petal. So, also, the petals gradually pass into 

 sepals, and in other plants, Peony for instance, the sepals 

 just as gradually pass 

 into leaves. (See Class 

 Book of Botany, § 113.) 



119. This transforma- 

 tion of one sort of organ 

 into another (always 

 from stamen hack to- 

 wards the leaf) is quite 

 common among culti- 

 vated plants. It is in 

 this manner that the 

 Hose, Carnation, Peony, 

 &c., become double, viz., 

 by the stamens, and oft- 

 en the pistils too, becom- 

 ing petals: for in the 

 wild state these flowers 201 200 



have but five petals. Fig. 200. Flower of Crowfoot. 



120. From these ex- -^^' 201. Double flower of the same ; the sta- 

 , 1 ,1 Ti mens and pistils have become petals. 



amples and others like 



them, we conclude that the different organs of the flower, and 

 the leaf also, although commonly very different, have all one 

 comtnon naUire and origin • or, in other words, the organs of 

 the flower may all be considered as transformed leaves. 



118. Show tlie graduation of organs in Water Lily. 



119. How do the Rose, Peony, &c., become double ? 



120. What great principle is derived from these facts ? 



