144 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



embedded in food-material, occupies the whole cavity of 

 the seed. Now, if we wish to pack a leaf into a cavity 



of this form, it would 

 be found convenient to 

 choose one of a long 

 strap-like shape, and then 

 roll it up into a sort of 

 ball. This is, I believe, 

 the reason why this form 

 of cotyledon is most suit- 

 able in the case of the 



Fig. 84. — Fruit and rolled cotyledons (A,B) gycamore " ^ 



of Sycamore. Nat. size. ■' ' /tit t \ 



A. campestre (Maple). 

 — A common plant in thickets and hedgerows. Native 

 in England, and naturalised in Scotland. Here, as 

 in the Sycamore and other species of the genus, the 

 flowers contain either functional stamens and a central 

 pistil rudiment, or a functional pistil and short stamens, 

 the anthers of which do not open. That is to say, the 

 flowers are functionally male or female. The distribu- 

 tion of the two kinds varies remarkably, sometimes 

 occurring together on the same inflorescence, or at 

 others distributed on difl'erent trees. 



CELASTEACEiE 



This is a large family, of which we have only one 

 representative. 



EUONYMUS 



E. europaeus (Spindle Tree). — A glabrous shrub 5-15 

 feet high. The leaves are opposite, and the shoots more 

 or less quadrangular. The flowers are greenish, and 



^ Avebury (Lubbock), On Seedlings, vol. i. 



