ON COMPOUND FLOWERS. 221 



are attached to the seed. These tufts bear the name of 

 Coma, and serve the same purpose as the pappus, though 

 their origin is different. But we are digressing from our 

 China Aster. 



Emily. Pray let us return to it ; for it has become ve- 

 ry interesting, since I have learnt how much there is 

 in these little things which you call florets. 



Mrs. B. Above the ovary, and within the pappus, 

 you may perceive a yellow tube, terminated by five small 

 teeth ; this is the corolla. If you slit it up with the point 

 of a penknife, and look very close, you will see five little 

 stamina : they have each their filament which appear to 

 grow out of the tube of the corolla, and each of these 

 filaments is terminated by an anther. 



Caroline. I can see only one anther. 



Mrs. B. Because the five anthers adhere together, so 

 as to form a cylindrical tube, through which passes the 

 style, the extremity of which spreads out into two small 

 branches. It is this tube which constitutes a character- 

 istic distinction of the compound flower. The five an- 

 thers, of which this tube is composed, open internally by 

 two small slits. The style is also furnished with a pecu- 

 liar species of stiff hairs, called sweeping hairs ; because 

 they are designed to sweep the pollen from off the an- 

 thers, so as to make it fall upon the stigma. 



Emily. How wonderful that a little yellow atom, 

 which I hardly looked at, should contain so great a vari- 

 ety of curious organs ! 



Mrs. B. The more you study nature, the more beau- 

 tiful and magnificent it will appear. But we have not 

 yet done with the China Aster. You understand the 

 structure of the yellow central florets ; but the purple 

 ones, which form the circumference, are very different. 



Caroline. In appearance, certainly, they are ; for they 

 look exactly like long narrow flat leaves. 



Mrs. B. Pull out one of these violet leaves, and you 

 will see that the extremity, by which it is attached to the 

 receptacle, is not flat, but round and hollow, in the form 



1209. What is the corolla, and what will be seen if slit up with a 

 knife? 1210. What is said of these staminal 1211. What con- 

 stitutes the characteristic distinction of compound flowers'? 1212. How 

 are the sweeping hairs situated, and why are they so called 1 ? 1213. If 

 one of the wild leaves of the China Aster is pulled out, what will beseenl 



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