12 THE DATE PALM. 



flowers (see illustrations Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18, pages l2a, 126, 

 12c & I2d). The spathe has tough leathery walls, and, completely 

 enclosing the whole inflorescence, it protects the comparatively 

 delicate flowers from being shrivelled up with the intense heat 

 until they are quite ready to perform their functions. 



7. When the spathe just described bursts, the male flower - 

 cluster is disclosed. Its small lateral branches 

 cluster. are about 6 inches long, and if the cluster is 



shaken, about the time that the spathe splits 

 open, a dense cloud of yellowish pollen dust will fall from it. 

 On examination it will be seen that in every little flower there 

 are 6 stamens standing up like little pillars, each composed of 

 2 little yellowish pollen sacs and around the 6 little pillar-like 

 stamens are 6 little waxy-looking scale-like structures which 

 represent the sepals and petals in familiar flowers. These scales 

 close over and help to protect the stamens until the pollen sacs 

 have matured their pollen grains and are ready to burst and set 

 the pollen free (see illustrations Nos. 15 and 17, pages 12a & 12c). 

 Very soon after the large brown spathe splits open, the scales 

 (sepals and petals), which covered and protected the stamens, 

 open out and the pollen sacs burst. The opening of the scales 

 and the bursting of the pollen sacs are due to the cells of their 

 outer or epidermal tissues drying and contracting under the heat 

 of the sun. The pollen sacs usually open within an hour or two 

 of the bursting of the spathe. 



8. The spathe which encloses the female flower-cluster is 



very similar to that which encloses the male 



)m c]uster w< cluster, and it bursts in the same way when the 



female cluster is ready for fertilisation. The 



small branches of the female cluster are, however, less confined to 



the end of its main axis and are very much longer than the small 



branches in the male flower-cluster (see illustrations Nos. 15 and 16 ; 



pages I2a & 126). The female flower also differs very much from 



the male flower (see illustrations Nos. 17 and 18, pages 12c & 12d). 



It is an oval looking body, and might at first be mistaken for a 



