Sunshine, Rain, and Wind 
the season becomes cold and wet, these flowers become 
smaller and have fewer stamens and carpels. 
An enormous amount of labour has been spent in 
counting (like Marguerite) the number of ray florets 
of asters, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, and other Com- 
posite. Such flowers are, of course, really heads of 
florets, and might be compared to contracted or fore- 
shortened inflorescences. These outside ray florets 
must, one would think, be in some way connected with 
the arrangement of the leaves on an ordinary stem 
(see p. 121). 
We would expect then to find the same numbers as 
occur in leaf arrangement reappearing in these ray 
florets, and that is found to be the case. 
The commonest or most fashionable number of ray 
florets (that is, the ode) is generally one or other of 
the series 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, &c.™ 
In the annual sunflower the mode is 34 or 55, but if 
such plants are badly treated they will have as a rule 
only 21 or even only 13 rays. If well supplied with 
artificial food or manure they may have 89 rays. 
Oxeye daisies and asters, which come out late in the 
season, have also but few rays. These few cases show 
how greatly the climate and especially sunshine may 
affect the* vigour of the plant and quite alter the size 
and number of flowers.* 
Rainfall has also a marked effect and especially on 
the leaves. In a rainy climate, for instance, smooth 
glossy leaves like those of rhododendrons and laurels 
are distinctly useful. The rain dries off them at once. 
If they remained wet, the conditions for the germination 
of fungus or algal spores would be much more favour- 
able. Another interesting point in rain-leaves is the 
* The number of leaves may be also increased as well as their size, after 
Goebel and Groom.*4 1 
188 
