136 NATURE TEACHING. 



CHAPTER VII.-FLOWERS AND FRUITS. 



Most plants, for example those raised 

 from the seeds sown during the work of Chap- 

 ter 1, if kept under observation, are found to 

 pass through well marked stages in their life- 

 history. For some time they grow, producing 

 only new stems, leaves, and roots. Then, sooner 

 or later, they begin to form flowers, which 

 show first as flower-buds, later as open flow- 

 ers. After the flowers have been open for 

 some time, certain parts of them wither away. 

 But some portions remain and, later, fruits 

 and seeds may be expected to be found. 

 Clearly fruits and seeds are dependent on, 

 and result from flowers. Every-day experi- 

 ence tells us that it is useless to look for beans 

 on a bean plant before it has flowered. In 

 the present chapter we shall try, first of all, to 

 understand what a flower is, of what parts it is 

 made, of what use these parts are, and how 

 fruits and seeds are formed from flowers. 



PARTS OF A FLOWER. 



1. Flowers at first sight vary very much 

 in appearance ; they are of different colours, sizes 



