THE FLOWER 199 
occur indiscriminately and without order, or in regular suc- 
cession between the alternating stamens? Examine one of 
the little powdery yellow bodies at the tip of the stamens, 
and see whether they face toward the pistil or away from it. 
Remove one of the stamens and sketch as it appears under 
the lens, labeling the powdery yellow body at the top, 
anther, and the stalklike body supporting it, filament. Usu- 
ally the filaments are threadlike, whence their name, but 
sometimes, as in the star-of-Bethlehem, they are flattened 
and look like altered petals. See if you can find such a one. 
What would you infer from this fact as to the possible origin 
of the stamens? (100.) 
Notice the two little sacs or pouches that compose the 
anther, as to their shape and manner of opening, or dehisc- 
ing, to discharge the powder 
contained in them. This 
powder is called pollen, and i 
will be seen under the lens 276 277 978 
to consist of little yellow, He. 27. 27, Romt ot nln: 
grains. These are of differ- wild balsam apple; 278, hibiscus. (After 
ent shapes, colors, and sizes, °™4?? 
in different plants, and their surface often appears beautifully 
grooved and striate when sufficiently magnified. Place some 
of the pollen under the microscope and draw two of the 
grains, with their markings. In the hibiscus and others of 
the mallow family, they are large enough to be seen with a 
hand lens. 
214. The pistil.— Remove the stamens and sketch the 
pistil as it stands on the receptacle. Label the round or 
oval enlargement at the base, ovary, the threadlike appendage 
rising from its center, style, and the tip end of the style, 
stigma. In some specimens the style may be very short, or 
wanting. In this case the stigma is sessile, and the pistil 
consists of stigma and ovary alone. If the stigma is lobed 
or parted, count the divisions and see if there is any corre- 
spondence between them and the number of petals and sepals, 
