164 



ZHSSOIfS WITS PLANTS 



wither. One of them is seen in Fig. 161. It is 

 a staminate flower, and its normal course is to 

 live for a day and perish. Hidden under the 

 foliage, on short stems, are flowers like that shown, 

 in Fig. 162. The ovary (or young squash) is seen 

 below the flower -cup. It is, therefore, a pistillate 

 flower, and the ovary is inferior. 



184o. The pupil should now examine flowers of any cucurbitous 

 plants, — those of pumpkins, squashes, gourds, cucumbers, melons, and 

 the like. Pigs. 163 and 164 show other members of this family 

 or tribe. Let the pupil designate the staminate and pistillate 

 flowers in these pictures. It is seen that the staminate flowers are 

 not long-peduncled in all of them. Now count the number of 

 staminate and pistillate flowers produced on any vine, and deter- 



FiG. 164. 

 Floweis of the bur-cucumber or gherkin. 



mine if they maintain the same proportion to each other through- 

 out the season. Note the hour of the day at which they open. 

 Determine if the flowers close, and it they ever open again. 



185. The sedges or carices are grass -like plants 

 which grow in low places (although some of them 



