FALL PLANT STUDY. 



367 



same. Each golden fan is called a petal. The smallest 

 child will understand and can tell what these do, or what 

 they are good for. 



The outer and lower five green parts ( these may be miss- 

 ing in some flowers, as they are apt to drop off when the 

 flower is fully matured ) to- 

 gether forming a star or 

 rosette, constitute the little 

 cup or calyx, each part, 

 shaped like the bowl of a 

 spoon, being called a sepal. 

 What do these green parts 

 do ? A glance at the half- 

 opened flowers or at the 

 buds will show. When the 

 other parts do not need to 

 be covered or protected, the 

 work of these green parts 

 is done, and they fall off. 



What else do the sharp 



eyes find ? Many little yel- nowei , and Fruit of Buttercup. 

 low " things " about a green 



ball in the middle. The sharpest eyes will discover that 

 each yellow " thing " has two parts, a short stem with 

 a ball on the top, and that the green ball in the middle is 

 rough, or has points on it. 



If the teacher has given to some children flowers in which 

 this green ball is quite large, and to some, matured blos- 

 soms, from which the petals, but not the yellow threads or 

 stamens, have fallen, they may discover that this green ball 

 is, or develops into, a cluster of seeds. It is really a 

 cluster of seed-vessels, each containing a seed ; but the chil- 

 dren are not ready for and cannot understand this distinc- 

 tion. This green ball is, then, made up of seeds ; to the 



