184 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



let, and the student will do well to thoroughly master that of the 

 Rye-grass by examining and drawing a number of specimens. 



We can now consider how the flowers are pollinated. As seen 

 above, all the parts remain enclosed by the pales till the moment 

 of flowering. This usually takes place on a bright warm day, 

 and the anthers are quickly carried clear of the spikelet by the 

 growth of their filaments, and open, thus liberating the pollen. 

 This is shed as a dusty substance, the separate grains floating freely 

 in the air. Some of these pollen-grains may come against the 

 stigma of a flower on the same or more probably another in- 

 florescence. The plume-like stigmas are well fitted to catch the 

 pollen grains. The flowers are thus pollinated by help of the wind, 

 and this explains their inconspicuousness, the absence of nectar, 

 and the fact that they are not visited by insects. 



The result of pollination is that the ovary, which has one 

 cavity and contains a single ovule, develops into the fruit. The 

 seed-coat of the one seed is so closely united with the wall of the 

 fruit that they together form a single brown layer around the seed- 

 like fruit. This contains an embryo lying against one side of the 

 fruit near the lower end, and a relatively large mass of tissue 

 containing food material. The fruits of most grasses are very 

 similar, and a grain of Wheat will afford an interesting example for 

 study. 



THE GARDEN SAGE (Salvia officinalis). 



The Garden Sage is commonly grown in the vegetable garden 

 as a pot-herb, and other species, which well serve for study, are 

 cultivated for the beauty of their flowers. The plant is a small 

 perennial shrub, never attaining a large size, since the smaller 

 branches die back each winter leaving the main stem and 

 branches, the buds of which unfold in the next season. Owing 

 to the presence of glandular hairs on the leaves the plant has 

 a strong aromatic scent. 



The stem is square and covered with short hairs. The leaves 

 are borne in pairs at the nodes, the successive pairs alternating. 

 Each leaf has a grooved leaf-stalk extending from the widened 

 leaf-base to the leaf-blade, into which it continues as the midrib. 

 The elongated, oval blade gradually widens out at the base, and 



