STAMEN AND PISTIL 



163 



urn, where they unite into a central mass known as the 

 ovary ; the ovary will form the core of the pear and the 

 calyx the soft pulp outside the core. The calyx also 

 serves as a fleshy wrapper to the delicate ovary. 



113. What is the work of each of the flower parts? The 

 calyx protects the bud when starting, and, later on, it fur- 

 nishes some starch to the grow- 

 ing seeds. The corolla is need- 

 ful to attract insects. Grains 



of the fine flower dust called 

 pollen are produced in the sta- 

 men's anther. When pollen 

 falls upon the pistil's stigma, 

 that organ absorbs it, and 

 passes it down through the 

 style to the ovary, where there 

 are already minute egg-like 

 bodies called ovules. The pollen 

 fertilizes these ovules; that is, 

 it joins with them to make 

 them grow into seeds. No 

 seed can be formed without 

 this union of pollen and ovule. 



114. The stamen and pistil, 

 accordingly, are the essential 

 parts of the flower. Both are 

 absolutely necessary to the 

 production of seed, which is 

 the purpose of flowers. Calyx 



and corolla may assist in one way or another, but they are 

 not essential parts. Many kinds of flowers do not have 

 them. The cornflower does not, but it produces much seed. 

 Indeed, no one cornflower has both stamens and pistil. 

 The tassels at the top of a stalk are clusters of staminate 



CORN TASSEL. 

 Staminate flowers. 



