I30 DICOTYLEDONS 



by insects with shorter tongues (beetles and flies) as well as by 

 bees. It is well to note that the yellow-flowered form has more 

 accessible honey and a wider circle of visitors than the blue- 

 flowered form, which is a " bee-flower " ; and to compare this 

 with the case of the yellow Buttercup and the blue Monkshood. 

 Some of the flowers of the small-flowered variety do not open, 

 but pollinate themselves. 



The Violets belong to the same genus ( Viola) as the Pansy, 

 and have their flowers constructed on the same general plan ; 

 but the structure of the stigma varies in different species. 

 Many violets have two different kinds of flowers. In the 

 springtime they produce the familiar white or blue flowers ; 

 but later in the year they bear a second crop of flowers which 

 are minute and bud-like, and incapable of opening. These 

 closed flowers pollinate themselves and are hence said to be 

 cleistogamic. 



CARYOPHYLLACE.iE (Pink FamUy) 



Herbs. Leaves opposite. Inflorescence cymose. Flowers 

 regular, cyclic, hypogynous. Sepals four or five. Petals four, 

 five (or none), polypetalous. Stamens usually eight or ten, 

 often obdiplostemonous, usually hypogynous. Carpels from two 

 to five, syncarpous, superior ; ovary one-chambered ; ovules 

 many, on a central placenta; styles from two to five. Seed 

 perispermic, embryo curved. 



Type I. : CHICKWEED {Stellaria media). 



Vegetative Characters. — Annual herb; much branched in a 

 cymose manner (fig. 43). Note the line of hairs on one 

 side of each internode, continuous with a fringe of hairs 

 on the bases of the leaves. Leaves opposite, exstipulate, 

 simple, entire ; lower leaves stalked, upper leaves sessile. 

 Inflorescence axillary, commences as a two-branched cyme 

 (dichasium). Flower (fig. 159)? regular, cyclic; small, white. 

 The flowers vary considerably, but a complete typical flower 

 will be described first, and then the variations will be noted. 

 Sepals (ex) five, separate. Petals (co) five, separate. Note the 

 deep division of each petal. Stamens 5-1-5, hjrpogynous. 

 The stamens composing the outer whorl {ap) are opposite to 

 the petals : whilst the five inner stamens (as) alternate with 

 them. The flower is therefore obdiplostemonous. Anthers 



