86 THE STORY OF THE PLANTS. 



It is a collection of special and peculiar leaves, 

 told' off to act as fathers and mothers to the 

 seeds, whence are to be born future plant 

 swarms or future colonies. 



A flower, in its simplest form, consists of a 

 single stamen or a single carpel that is to say, 

 of one leaf or leaf -like organ, told off for the 

 production of pollen ; or of one leaf or leaf -like 

 organ, told off for the production of young seeds 

 or ovules. Flowers as simple as that do actually 

 occur, but more often a flower is much more 

 complex, consisting of several stamens and 

 several carpels, as well as of other protective 

 or attractive leaves, often highly coloured and 

 conspicuous, which surround or envelop these 

 essential organs. 



The most familiar flowers, as we actually 

 know them, are of this last more complex type ; 

 each comprises in itself several male and several 

 female individuals. The male individuals are 

 stamens, each of which generally consists of two 

 little pollen-bags, called the anthers, and a rather 

 slender stalk or support, known as the filament. 

 The female individuals are carpels, each of which 

 generally consists of a sort of sack or folded leaf, 

 enclosing one or more tiny seeds or ovules. 



But that is not at all what you mean by a 

 flower ! No ; certainly not ; and half the flowers 

 you meet in a morning's walk you do not take 

 for flowers at all, and pass by unrecognised. 

 Such are the green or inconspicuous blossoms 

 of the grasses, nettles, oaks, and sedges, as well 

 as those of the pines, the dog's mercury, the 

 spurge, and the hazel. What you mean most 



