EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS 207 



wither after the fruits have ripened. The inflorescences destined 

 to grow up in the next summer may be found in the autumn 

 as small pointed bodies protected by a felt of white, silky hairs, 

 and standing in the axils of the foliage-leaves. 



The inflorescence grows into a long, erect spike with a bare 

 stalk below, while the numerous small flowers are crowded on the 

 upper part. Each flower stands in the axil of a small, green, scale- 

 like bract. The flower (Fig. 93, 5) though of small size has calyx, 

 corolla, stamens, and pistil. The calyx is composed of four 

 separate greenish sepals. Within this we find a corolla composed 

 of four petals united together in the lower part. The corolla is also 

 greenish, and is of more delicate texture. As Fig. 93, 5, shows, the 

 free upper parts of the petals expand almost at right angles to the 

 lower tubular part of the corolla. The four stamens alternate 

 with the petals and are attached to the inner surface of the corolla 

 tube. The long, slender filaments project freely from this, and 

 carry the anthers clear of the other parts of the flower. In the 

 centre of the flower the small greenish ovary will be found by 

 carefully slitting up the corolla with the point of the knife. It is 

 usually two or three chambered, and the few ovules are attached 

 to a thick, central placenta, between which and the wall the thin 

 septa extend. The ovary is surmounted by a single style con- 

 tinuing into a long stigma, the surface of which is clothed with 

 papillae. 



The flowers of the Greater Plantain, though individually in- 

 conspicuous, are prominent by reason of the stamens projecting 

 from the open flowers massed together on the inflorescence. 

 The anthers before dehiscence have a purplish colour, and when 

 they open liberate dusty pollen, which escapes readily and is carried 

 by the wind. The large and hairy stigma is well suited to catch 

 such wind-borne pollen grains, and the whole aspect of the flower 

 suggests its suitability for wind-pollination. It is doubtless often 

 pollinated in this way, but, although the flowers contain no nectar, 

 they are sometimes visited by bees. These come to collect pollen, 

 which they have to moisten with saliva in order to carry away. 



These insect visitors may carry pollen from one flower to 

 another, and we may look upon the flower as in some degree 

 intermediate between a wind-pollinated and an insect-pollinated 



