64 THE FLOWER 



pistil is composed. The number of carpels does not necessarily 

 correspond with the number of chambers in the ovary. Of 

 course, it will be readily recognized that the ovary eventually 

 becomes the seed case of a dry fruit and that it is also an im- 

 portant factor in the formation of fleshy fruits. 



Fig. 51. — Lily blossom. A polypetalous flower. 



Flower Clusters. — The arrangement of flowers on the stem 

 is called the inflorescence. A few of the most common types 

 of inflorescence are as follows: (1) The raceme (Fig. 52) in 

 which a number of flowers are borne along a stem, the lower 

 blooming first. The minute leaf which is usually at the base 

 of each flower is called a bract. (2) The corymb is a raceme 

 in which the pedicels, or little stems, of the lower flowers are 

 elongated so that the flowers are practically on the same level. 



