FALL PLANT STUDY. 357 



beauty, the crowning glory of the plant ; as something with 

 a great work to do, the most important part of the plant. 

 Do not, under any circumstances, have the little children 

 pick the flower to pieces. It is one of the choicest, most 

 perfect, most beautiful of the Creator's works ; and the lit- 

 tle child, at least, should love, and cherish, and guard it as 

 something almost sacred. 



Study first the relation of the flower to the parts pre- 

 viously studied, to the root, stem, and leaf. How does it 

 depend on the root, and stem, and leaves for food ? Where 

 and how does it grow from the stem ? From the angle be- 

 tween the flower-stem and the plant-stem (the axil of the 

 leaf), usually in clusters of two or more. How are the 

 young flowers protected by the leaves ? 



Have the children look carefully at the flower in different 

 stages of development, the very small bud just pushing 

 up from the protecting care of the leaf, the fully developed 

 bud not yet open, the open flower, and the old flower with 

 the colored part withered or shrivelled. 



Why is the flower-stem so short at first ? Why does it 

 grow longer as the flower gets ready to open ? 



Have the children tell all they can about the parts of 

 the flower, the green outer part with its five-pointed 

 divisions ; the pink part, also with five divisions ; the little 

 part in the middle, looking like a very small white Christ- 

 mas-tree. Do not tear the flower to pieces, and do not 

 allow the children to do so. What is the use of the green 

 part ?- To cover up the bud ; to make a pretty outside 

 dress for the flower. It is cut into five parts, so that it 

 can easily fold over the baby flower, and just as easily open 

 wide when the flower opens, much as a little girl's cape 

 can be wrapped tightly about her or opened wide. We 

 might call this the cape of the flower, but we do not. 

 When the flower is open, this outside part is shaped like 



