FLOWERS I 3 i 



from which a new plant will be produced if the seed 

 is placed under conditions necessary for germina- 

 tion or sprouting. 



The pistils of the flowers of other plants will be 

 found to develop into fleshy fruits, hard nuts, dry 

 pods or husks containing one or more seeds. 



The work of the pistil or pistils of flowers then 

 is to furnish seeds for the production of new plants. 



The botanists tell us that a pistil will not produce 

 seeds unless it is fertilized by pollen from the same 

 kind of flower falling on its stigma. 



The work of the stamen then is to produce pollen 

 to fertilize the pistils. Pistils and stamens are both 

 necessary for the production of fruit and seed. 

 They are therefore called the essential or necessary 

 parts of the flower. 



The botanists also tell us that nature has provided 

 that in most cases the pistils shall be fertilized by 

 the pollen of some other flower than their own, as 

 this produces stronger seeds. 



How is the pollen carried from flower to flower? 



Go into the garden or field and watch the bees 

 and butterflies flying about the flowers, resting on 

 them and crawling into them. They are seeking 

 for nectar which the flower secretes. As they visit 

 plant after plant, feeding from many flowers, their 

 bodies become more or less covered with pollen as 

 they brush over the stamens. Some of this pollen 

 in turn gets rubbed off on the stigmas of the pistils 

 and they become fertilized. Thus the bees and 

 some other insects have become necessary as pollen 



