SPRING FLOWERS 159 



as an enlargement of the flower stalk. It is somewhat triangular 

 when cut across, and shows three cavities. In each cavity, spring- 

 ing from the inner angle, are two rows of ovules. All the other 

 parts of the flower appear to spring from the summit of the 

 inferior ovary. The perianth is composed of two whorls of 

 three leaves each ; there are two whorls of three stamens, and 

 in the centre is the style, ending in a three-lobed stigma, which 

 indicates that the pistil is composed of three carpels. The 

 modifications due to the unequal growth and the union of the 

 parts of the flower will be best understood from Fig. 76, which 

 represents a flower cut in half. 



In the centre of the flower is the cylindrical style, which 

 springs from the summit of the ovary and is formed of the upper 

 portions of the three united carpels. It bears the three lobes 

 of the stigma at its upper end. The other parts of the flower 

 form by their union a tubular or bell-shaped structure of 

 rather complex construction. Above the ovary comes a short, 

 tubular region. Just where this widens out into the next region, 

 which extends to the place of divergence of the free parts of the 

 perianth leaves, the six stamens are borne on the inner surface 

 of the tube. Three of the stamens are inserted at a lower 

 level than the other three. The stamens have short yellow 

 stalks, and the large anthers stand close around the style. The 

 second or middle region of the perianth tube is wider than the 

 lowest region. At its upper limit the two series of free pointed 

 perianth segments diverge almost at right angles to the tube. 

 The outer three segments are broader than the inner three. 



Above the divergence of the perianth segments the tube 

 of the flower is continued as a cylindrical tube of a deeper yellow 

 colour. The inner surface of this is wrinkled, and the edge is 

 slightly frilled. This structure, which is peculiar to the Daffodil 

 and its near relations, is called the corona. In the Daffodil 

 itself it makes up the largest part of the tube. The corona is 

 a new formation in the flower and appears late in its develop- 

 ment, after all the other parts have been formed. It extends 

 forward beyond the style and stamens, which are completely 

 protected by it. 



As compared with the Tulip or the Woodrush, we find the 



