A MANUAL OF BOTANY 67 



flower study any species will do, but for the deistogmnous 

 flowers the common blue violets are particularly suitable. 

 They abound in open and moist woodlands. 



In many violets all the leaves arise from the short under- 

 ground stem (radical). Other violets are said to be stemmed ; 

 that is, have stems above ground, bearing leaves. In both 

 forms the flowers are on slender peduncles. How many are 

 there to each peduncle ? 



Flowers. Examine a single flower. Is it regular or not? 

 What is the sepal and the petal number? What is the 

 common petal color? Examine carefully the lowermost 

 petal and find a S2)ur at its base. After drawing side and 

 face views of the flower, remove the petals and count the 

 stamens. What is peculiar about all the anthers and the 

 filaments of the two lowermost? 



Study the pistil. Draw the flower, flower plan and one 

 of the lowermost stamens. 



Examine a plant bearing cleistogamous flowers, i.e. 

 flowers lacking petals, commonly subterranean. Determine 

 the flower parts and notice the color. Compare the seed 

 number in the capsules produced by each kind of flower. 

 What kinds of pollination has the violet ? 



Some related questions. How do you explain the remark- 

 able variety of color in pansies ? 



Some other plants have cleistogamous flowers. What 

 ex])lanation can you give for the two methods of reproduc- 

 tion ? What seems to be the purpose of the spur in flowers ? 

 Kecall other flowers with spurs. 



14. Flowers of the Highest PoLYPETALyT:. The Car- 

 rot Family (Parsley) — Meadow Parsnip, 

 Sweet Cicely, Caraway 



The plants. Plants of the Carrot family are common, 

 but only a few bloom early in the season. The characteris- 



