AGRICULTURAL BOTANY 145 



in the form of starch, as in the potato, or sugar, as in 

 the beet, or oil, as in cottonseed. Annuals, as corn, 

 peas, oats, and beans, that is, plants that germinate, 

 grow, bear flower and seed, then perish, all in one season, 

 store their surplus food in the seed for its nourishment 

 during germination. Biennials, two-year plants, store 

 food during the first year generally in their large tap- 

 roots, and the next year use this food in the produc- 

 tion of flower and seed. Such are the carrot, beet, 

 celery, cabbage, and parsnip. Perennials use only a 

 part of their food for the production of flower and seed 

 each year, and use the remainder for maintenance of 

 life during the winter and leaf growth in the spring. 



The crowning part of the plant is the flower, because 

 it is the flower which produces the seed, the embryo, 

 or germ, of the new plant. 



Parts of the Flower. --The normal flower is made 

 up of four parts : the calyx, a whorl of more or less 

 united leaves, 



7 stamen 



Called SZpalS, USU- stamen / (TV~ n stamen 



ally of a green color, 

 just underneath 



the corolla, which 



.1 i ' j 



is the colored part , ;//// 



r ,1 n / :Y Cttlyx \WV/W/ calyx 



ot the nower (other 

 than green), made 



& FIG. 68. Section of a Cherry Blossom. 



up of more or less 



distinct parts, called petals. Around the inside of the 

 corolla are slender, threadlike organs, called stamens, 

 which are made up of the stalk, or filament, the enlarged 

 top, or anther, and the yellow dust, or pollen; the 

 center of the flower is occupied by a slender organ, 

 called the pistil, which is also made up of three parts, 

 M. & H. AG. 10 



