362 



THE HIGHER DICOTYLEDONS. 



with very short stalks and long yellow anthers, which taper 

 and are joined above and open by pores at the top ; the two- 

 chambered ovary with numerous ovules, slender style, blunt 

 stigma. There is no honey, but the flowers, by their coloured 

 or white corolla, attract various kinds of insects, which come 

 for pollen. Note the drooping of the flowers : do you see 

 how this is advantageous in protecting the pollen from rain 

 and in sprinkling the pollen over the bodies of insect- 

 visitors ? 



STIGMA --- 



PORES 



COROLLA 

 --CALYX 



Pig. 149. Longitudinal Section and Floral Diagram of Flower of Potato. 



Examine fruits of different ages. Does the fruit change 

 in colour as it ripens ? What other part of the flower 

 remains after the fruit has formed ? Cut across the fruit 

 and note its structure. It is a true berry, for the whole of 

 the ovary- wall becomes juicy except the firm outer skin ; the 

 only hard parts are the seed-coats. 



363. Bittersweet Nightshade (Solatium dulcamara) is 

 a woody perennial plant, forming a bush which usually 

 straggles or climbs over other plants, especially in moist 

 or shaded places. It is often many feet long, but it dies far 

 back in winter. 



The twigs are yellowish-grey in colour and bear conspicuous 

 lenticels. The resting-buds have no special bud-scales ; only 

 two or three of the young leaves are visible from the outside. 

 The rind (cortex) is bitter, the wood sweet. The leaves are 

 stalked, the leaf -blade usually entire and egg-like or heart- 

 like in outline, with a pointed tip, but the shape varies a 



