Blossom anct Seed 197 



dahlia, which are most commonly doubled by cultiva- 

 tion. 



Nature does not grow many double flowers, for 

 wild plants need seed, and double flowers produce little 

 if any, seed being sacrificed to petals. Geraniums, 

 which have only ten stamens, are among the plants, 

 however, which have a tendency to increase the 

 number of their petals ; and, among the single blossoms, 

 one may often be seen with a petal or two more than 

 the rest, or an extra small petal, which is half way 

 between a petal and a stamen. If the seed from this 

 blossom were saved, some of the next generation of 

 plants might have still more petals and still fewer 



Pollen of the Melon, magnified. 



Stamens, and by carefully cultivating those having 

 these peculiarities the gardener would at last obtain 

 quite double blossoms. The orange day-lily, too, may 

 sometimes be seen with one or more stamens enlarged 

 into small petals and bearing an imperfect anther. 



But we have now to see what it is which changes 

 the little immature grains in the hollow part of the 

 pistil into seeds, capable of growing into independent 

 plants. At first they are mere specks of matter to all 

 appearance, and so they will remain unless they are 

 brought into close contact with some of the dust con- 

 tained in the sacs borne by the stamens. This is the 

 special stimulant which they need to make them 



