324 NATURE-STUDY 



in seed formation. When the flower goes to seed the pretty 

 corolla fades and withers, and the stamens also fall off. The 

 ovary grows larger and changes into a fleshy red fruit that 

 contains the ripe seeds. 



Make a large diagram on the black-board to show the 

 flower plan. Also make enlarged views of the stamens, 

 pistil, and section of the ovary. Let the children draw simi- 

 lar diagrams after a study of the flower. 



Dig up a lot of budding-plants and plant them in a dish. 

 They will open in the school-room and make a pretty dis- 

 play. 



The above is a suggestion for the method of studying a 

 plant in general, and a typical flower in particular. After 

 a typical, perfect flower has been studied take up modified, 

 irregular, and imperfect flowers. These should be studied 

 with reference always to their peculiar adaptations. In 

 many flowers the sepals grow together, and the petals unite to 

 form a tubular corolla. In many the number of stamens 

 is either increased or reduced, and their shapes vary much. 

 There may be only one or several pistils in a flower. Some- 

 times they may unite into a single compound pistil, though 

 the number that united may generally still be seen by out- 

 side grooves or by cutting across the ovary and counting the 

 cells or cavities. The stigmas vary greatly in appearance. 

 Sometimes they are borne at the ends of long slender stems 

 called styles. In many flowers the sepals or petals are 

 irregular or unsymmetrical in shape. These modifications 

 are generally an adaptation to compel visiting insects to 

 enter the flower in a certain way, and thereby come in con- 

 tact with the stamens and pistils, bringing about cross- 

 pollination, considered below. Sometimes either the calyx 



