THE FERTILIZATION OF FLOWERS 



195 



Pistil 



Sepal 



It will be worth while to cut away carefully the stamens, 

 petals, sepals, and a portion of the receptacle on one side 

 in order to get a complete view of the 

 pistil. You will then readily see, es- 

 pecially through a hand lens, that this 

 pistil consists of an enlarged part at the 

 bottom called the ovary, above which 

 is a slender stalk called the style, on 

 the upper end of which is an enlarged 

 portion called the stigma. If now you 

 cut away carefully a piece of one side 

 of the ovary, you will see within a single little egg-shaped 

 object called the ovule. 



If you look carefully with a lens at the glistening surface 

 of the receptacle, you will probably see certain drops of 

 liquid ; these are drops of nectar which the bees gather 

 when they visit the blossoms and carry home to make into 

 honey. 



A week or so after the cherry trees have begun to blos- 

 som, the landscape is lighted up by the beautiful flowers 

 of the apple trees. These may be seen at great dis- 

 tances, and by their color and odor serve to attract the 

 notice of thousands of insects, which may be seen and 

 heard flying among the blossoms, 

 busily gathering both nectar and 

 pollen. 



If you examine an apple blossom 

 carefully, you will see that in many 

 respects it resembles the flower of 

 the cherry, but differs in having five 

 styles and stigmas which at their base are united to form 

 a compound ovary. In this ovary are five little cells in 

 which the ovules are held. There is thus one of these 



Pollination 



Fertilization 



