EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS 183 



grasses. No flowers stand in the axils of the glumes, but on the 

 slender stem of the spikelet above them they will be found placed 

 alternately on the side turned towards the main axis of the in- 

 florescence, and on the side away from this. 



Each of the little flowers is a side branch of the thin stem of 

 the spikelet itself, and appears to be enclosed between two narrow 

 concave bracts. The short stem of the flower stands in the axil 

 of the lower bract, which is called the inferior pale, and the other 

 bract, the superior pale, is placed a little higher on the axis of the 

 flower facing the inferior pale. The inferior pale is concave, and 

 overlaps the margins of the superior pale. The latter is thin and 

 translucent at either edge, and in the middle line ; the middle 

 portion that fits against the flower immediately above is not only 

 flattened but concave. These two protecting bracts completely 

 enclose the structures forming the flower itself until the moment 

 of flowering. 



When this takes place, the pales diverge like the two valves 

 of a shell, and by pulling them farther apart we can see all 

 the parts of the very simple flower (Fig. 85, 5). There are three 

 stamens and a pistil. The stamens have large yellow anthers, 

 which hang freely from the spikelet on delicate filaments. The 

 pistil, which stands in the centre of the flower, consists of a small 

 greenish, pear-shaped ovary bearing at its upper end to either side 

 a feathery stigma. The stigmas are delicate, white, plume-like 

 structures exposing a relatively large surface. 



There is no trace of either calyx or corolla of the usual kind 

 surrounding the pistil and stamens. Two little structures have, 

 however, yet to be recognised. At the lower side of the flower, 

 i.e. at the base of the inferior pale, are two pale translucent 

 bodies, swollen below and pointed above (Figs. 85, 5, 7). These 

 delicate structures are called the lodicules, and perform an im- 

 portant function. At the time of flowering they swell, and it is 

 their enlargement that forces the two pales apart, and thus ex- 

 poses the parts of the flower. It is possible that the lodicules 

 represent the perianth of the grass flower. 



There are some eight or ten flowers in each spikelet. In 

 comparing various grasses, the flowers of which are very similar, 

 it is important to ascertain exactly the construction of the spike- 



