288 EXPERIMENTS WITH PLANTS 



stage as possible in its development. The Passion 

 Flower, Bindweed, Cobsea and other flowers where 

 the calyx is large and inflated are especially well 

 adapted to such experiments, but any large flower, 

 such as the Poppy, Rose, etc., may be chosen. Re- 

 move the calyx while the bud is still quite small, 

 taking care not to injure the petals or other parts of 

 the flower. It seems natural to suppose that the calyx 

 protects the flower- bud against drying in the same 

 way that the bud- scales protect the leaf -bud. What 

 does the experiment show in regard to this? Since pet- 

 als are more easily injured than leaves by rain, frost, 

 etc., even when the calyx is not removed, we should 

 keep sharp watch to see whether the flowers deprived 

 of calyx suffer more than the controls in these respects. 

 Do you find that flowers which have been deprived 

 of the calyx are able to develop normally? Does the 



result depend on how early 

 the calyx is removed ? 



Let us now look at the 

 interior of the flower. If 

 we cut open flowers of the 

 Cherry, as shown in Fig. 



161. Cherry blossom cut open, to show 



the parts of the flower, 161, we find the seed-cases 



(or ovaries), containing the tiny seeds (or ovules). 

 Surrounding the ovary are the anthers, or pollen-cases, 

 mounted on short stalks, and containing a yellow dust, 

 the pollen. 



