DICLINOUS FLOWUBS, CONTINUED 



167 



seen that a single he- 

 patica flower has several 

 pistils) , or are there many 

 flowers in a dense spike ? 

 This question is really 

 very difficult for a be- 

 ginner to answer. We 

 know, in the first place, 

 that the flower — wherever 

 it is — must be diclinous, 

 for we can find no evi- 

 dence of stamens. We 

 know, too, that each 

 young kernel of corn is 

 part of a pistil, because 

 it ripens a seed. If it 

 is a pistU, then the "silk" 

 is the style. The husk 

 is very unlike a peri- 

 anth. We must conclude 

 that an ear of com is a 

 spike of flowers, the cob 

 is the rachis of the spike, 



the silks are the styles, and the husks are the 

 involucre of the spike. 



Fig. 167. 

 Pistillate flowers of Indian corn. 



Suggestions. — The pupil will now have a dozen questions to 

 ask about corn; and he should go to the corn plant for answers. 

 Where are the staminate flowers? What are th" "tassels"? What 



