358 NATURE STUDY. 



a little cup ; so it is called the cup, or better, the calyx, a 

 word which means " little cup." What does the pink part 

 of the flower do? In the well-developed bud see how 

 tightly it is twisted around the "little Christmas-tree." 

 It must protect that. This is the prettiest part of the 

 flower; so it is called the crown, or the corolla, a word which 

 means "little crown," or "little garland." The use of the 

 parts within the corolla, the stamens and stigmas, together 

 forming the "little Christmas-tree," the children cannot 

 see in the mallow, and cannot now understand ; so it is bet- 

 ter to say nothing about their functions. 



Have one of the children carefully pull off the corolla 

 from one or more of the old flowers in which it is withered 

 and ready to drop off. What is there under the corolla, 

 wrapped about by the green calyx ? Compare it with the 

 " cheeses," noting that the " cheeses " grow from the same 

 place as do the flowers, on the same kind of a stem, and 

 have wrapped about them the green calyx with its five 

 parts. The children should "think out" for themselves the 

 wonderful " secret " that the flowers make the " cheeses." 

 That is their greatest work, to make " cheeses " for the 

 mallow. 



Show the little folks the old brown fruits, or " cheeses," 

 which are ripe, and ready to fall to pieces and drop their 

 seeds. Tell them, or better, get them to tell, how impor- 

 tant the seeds are to the mallow ; how from the seeds the 

 new plants must grow, when all the plants we have now 

 have been killed by the cold. 



Review the work and parts of the flower and fruit. A 

 large picture of the flower on the blackboard will be very 

 helpful in this review. The flowers of the single holly- 

 hock or of the rose of Sharon are almost exactly like those 

 of the mallow, but are one to two inches in diameter. Their 

 size makes them helpful in reviewing the parts of the mal- 

 low flower. 



