AND WHAT THEIR PARTS ARE. 



11. The Flower. Flowers are most interesting to the botanist; who not only ad- 

 mires them i'ov their beauty, the exquisite arrangement and forms of their parts, and 

 the wonderful variety they exhibit, but also sees in the blossoms much of the na- 

 ture or character of each plant, and finds in them the best marks for distinguishing 

 the sorts of plants and the family they belong to. So let the student learn at once 



12. AVliat the Parts of a Flower are. A flower, with 



all the parts present, consists of Calyx, Corolla, Sta- 

 mens, and Pistils. One from the Morning-Glory 

 (Fig. 4,/) will serve for an example. Here is one 

 taken off, and shown of about the natural size, the 

 corolla, Fig. 5, separated from the calyx, Fig. 6. 

 The calyx and the corolla are the Floral Envelopes, 

 or the leaves of the flower. They cover in the bud, 

 and protect the stamens and pistils, which are the 

 Essential Organs of the flower, because both of these 

 are necessary to forming the seed. 



13. The Calyx — a Latin name for "flower-cup" — 

 is the cup or outer covering of the blossom (Fig. G). 

 It is apt to be green and leaf-like. 



14. The Corolla is the inner cup, or inner set of leaves, of the flower. It is very 

 seldom green, as the calyx commonly is, but is " colored," i. e. of some other color 

 than green, and of a delicate texture. So 

 it is the most showy part of the blossom. 

 Fig. 5 shows the corolla of the Morning- 

 Glory whole. Fig. 7 is the same, split 

 down and spread open to show 



15. The stamens. These in this flower 

 grow fast to the bottom of the corolla. 

 There arc five stamens in the Morning- 

 Glory. Each stamen consists of two parts, 

 namely, a Filament and an Anther. The 

 Filament is the stalk ; the Anther is a little '' 



case, or hollow body, borne on the top of the filament. It is filled with a powdery 

 matter, called Pollen. Fig. 9 shows a separate stamen on a larger scale : /, the 

 filament ; a, the anther, out of which pollen is falling from a slit or long opening 

 down each side. 



