WAYSIDE WEEDS. 27 



pistil, a single glance will show, haye their dis- 

 tinctive m,arks. 



The lychnisj stitchwort, and chickweed bring us 

 back to the regular flowers. The stamens (Figs. 16, 

 19) are more than in the wallflower, fewer than in 

 poppies or buttercups. The petals are clawed (Fig. 

 10), the shape different, and, speciaUy, the pistil 

 (Figs. 17, 18) differs from the plants we have 

 already examined. 



Lastly, take the common wayside geranium 

 (Figs. 11, 12) which we gathered into our Handful. 

 StiU we find the distinct petals attached with the 

 stamens as before, only, at the base of the latter 

 we come upon something new, the organs are 

 united just in the reverse to those of the violeti 

 The pistil, with its five lobes at the base, and its 

 long beak, is very different from any we have yet 

 met with, and with it we have arrived at the end of 

 our first gathering. Just let us review what we 

 have learned from it. We began, supposing that 

 we knew nothing whatever of plants, and that aU 

 the stock of knowledge we had to start with was 

 the recognition of the very commonest weeds of 

 the wayside. Those which we selected for our first 

 lesson were taken because of the one common 

 character so often alluded to, the attachment of the 

 distinct petals and the stamens to the organ named 

 the receptacle, which supports the pistil or central 

 organ. We have seen that but for this character 



