

ELEMENTS OF STKUCTUEAL BOTANY. 



leaves you ooserve a curious strip- 

 ed sheath, having an arching, 

 hood-hke top, and enclosing an up- 

 right stalk, the top of which almost 

 touches the hood (Fig. 79). Can 

 this he a flower ? It is certainly 

 the only thing about the plant 

 Avhich at all resembles a flower, 

 and yet how different it is from any 

 we have hitherto examined ! Care- 

 fully cut away the sheaths from all 

 your specimens. Most, and per- 

 haps all, of them will then present 

 an appearance like that in Fig. 80. 

 If none of them be like Fig. 81, it 

 will be well to gather a few more plants. We shall sup- 

 pose, however, that you have been fortunate in obtain- 

 ing both kinds, and will proceed with our ^| 

 examination. Take first a specimen cor- 

 responding with Fig. 80. Around the 

 base of the column are compactly arrang- 

 ed many spherical green bodies, each 

 tipped with a little point. Separate one 

 of these from the rest, and cut it across. 

 It will be found to contain several ovules, 

 and is, in fact, an ovary, the point at the 

 top being a stigma. In the autumn, a 

 great change will have taken place in the 

 apj)earance of plants like the one we ai-e 

 now examining. The arched hood will have disappear- 

 ed, as also the long naked top of the column, whilst the 

 part below, upon which we are now engaged, will have 



Fig. 81 



