418 



GENERAL BOTANY 



Pollination is by means of insects, which visit the flowers in 

 great numbers and pollinate the stigma, which protrudes beyond 

 the anthers and hairy filaments. The fruit is dry and opens by 



three valves, repre- 

 senting the three car- 

 pels of the ovary, and 

 liberates the smooth 

 black seeds for dis- 

 semination. Thus the 

 plant reproduces in 

 two ways, sexually 

 by means of flowers, 

 fruits, and seeds, and 

 vegetatively by means 

 of tubers with lateral 

 buds, which very often 

 produce underground 

 branches of consider- 

 f ---f$ able length. 



LlLIACEAE (LlLY 



FAMILY) 



The Liliaceae are 

 of principal interest 

 on account of the 

 large number of or- 

 namental plants in- 

 cluded among them, 

 although food plants, 

 such as the onions 

 and asparagus, are 

 also members of this 

 important family. The ornamental plants include the common 

 cultivated lilies, the spring tulips, hyacinths, narcissus, and 

 lily of the valley. Among the wild species of greatest beauty 

 are the dogtooth violet (Erythronium), the bell wort ( Uvularia), 



FIG. 265. Lengthwise section of hyacinth plant 



st, stem; 6, young bulb for next year's growth 

 sc, bulb scales ; fs, flower stalk. Reduced 



