REPRODUCTION IN PLANTS 



87 



tion, fertilization, and the development of fruit and seeds 

 could not take place in plants like these if there were not 

 some means of transferring pollen from the staminate 

 flowers to pistillate flowers. One has only to watch squash 



blossoms on a sunny day 

 to know that bees visit 

 them in great numbers and 

 that their hairy bodies are 

 dusted with yellow pollen 

 as they fly from flower to 

 flower. 



FIG. 33. Corn stalk with " tassels " (stam- 

 inate flowers) at the top. (Duggar.) 



FIG. 34. Developing ear 

 of corn (pistillate flowers). 

 (Bailey.) 



97. Cross-pollination by wind. There are many plants, 

 however, which have flowers without conspicuous color or 

 odor; among these are the grasses, the corn, and many 

 common trees like the oaks, birches, and pines. At the top 

 of the corn stalk in midsummer develop the " tassels," 

 and when these are shaken, they scatter great quantities of 



