MORE MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 115 



fivefold flowers, on the other hand, have usually 

 net-veined leaves, either feather-ribbed or finger- 

 ribbed. And at the risk of using two more horrid 

 long words, I shall venture to add that botanists 

 usually speak of the threefold group as monocoty- 

 ledons, and of the fivefold group as dicotyledons. I 

 did not invent these words, and I am sorry to 

 have to use them here ; but I will explain what 

 they mean when I come to deal with seeds and 

 seedlings. It is well at least to understand their 

 use in case you come across them in your future 

 reading. 



Another family of threefold flowers, closely 

 allied to the amaryllids, is that of the irises, many 

 examples of which are familiar in our flower-gar- 

 dens. It only differs from the amaryllids, in fact, 

 > a having the number of stamens still further re- 

 duced to three, which is always a sign of advance, 

 because it shows that the plants are so sure of 

 fertilisation as to be able to dispense with all 

 unnecessary pollen. The ovary is also inferior, 

 which you will learn in time to recognise as a 

 constant sign of high development, because it 

 means that the base of the corolla and calyx have 

 coalesced with the carpels, and so ensured greater 

 certainty of fertilisation. Some simple members 

 of the iris group, like the crocuses, have mere tu- 

 bular flowers, with a very long funnel-like base; 

 to the corolla, and with the ovary buried in the 

 ground for greater safety. They are early spring 

 blossoms, which need much protection against 

 cold; therefore they thus bury their ovaries, and 

 sheathe their flower-buds in a papery covering, 

 composed of a thin and leathery leaf. Whenever 

 a sunny day comes in winter the bees venture 

 out ; and on all such days, even though it freeze 



