MONOCOTYLEDONS 433 



the tassel, and the pistillate flowers forming an entirely different 

 kind of inflorescence, known as the ear (Fig. 279). Cross- 

 pollination is almost certain in corn, although self-pollination is 

 not impossible where the stamens and pistils ripen together. The 

 anthers on a single corn plant are said to produce as many as 



Floral plan of spikelet 



e 



FIG. 280. Inflorescence and flower of the oat (Avena saliva) 



a, portion of an oat panicle, or inflorescence ; b, c, d, different views of the oat 

 spikelet and its parts; e, floral plan of spikelet 



50,000,000 pollen grains, so that complete wind pollination of 

 the many stigmas constituting the silk of the ear is practically 

 assured. Where pollination does not occur, the seeds do not 

 develop. 



The flowers of the true grasses and cereal grains are usually 

 borne in dense spikes, like those of wheat and timothy, or in 

 compound clusters made up of separate spikelets, like the panicle 

 of oats (Fig. 280, a). The spike, like the panicle, is composed 

 of several spikelets, each spikelet containing one or more flowers 

 (Fig. 280, b-e). The flower proper (Fig. 281) is greatly reduced, 



