PABTICULAB TYPES OF FLOWERS (SEDGES) 233 



resents a bractlet which has rolled itself into a 

 flask (or possibly two conjoined bracts). The scale 

 which subtends the perigynium, therefore, must be 

 a bract at the base of a very short branch, and 

 this branch bears the perigynium and the flower. 

 The flowers of carex 

 are interpreted to be 

 achlamydeous ; and if 

 the ultimate branchlet 

 in the inflorescence of 

 a grass is called a 

 spikelet, a similar term 

 should be applied to 

 the perigynium and its 

 flower if we follow 

 strict homologies. 



268. We are again 

 impressed with the fact that the mor- 

 phology of a flower or a part cannot 

 be inferred from mere external conform- 

 ation, for appearances are apt to be 

 deceitful ; and we see how important it is to 

 give careful attention to every secondary and in- 

 cidental part or structure. 



Fia. 225. 

 Bacheola of carex. 



Fig. 224. 



Pistillate flower 

 of a carex. 



Suggestions.— The sedges are even more critical than the grasses, 

 but they are so abundant that the pupil should take pains to ob- 

 serve them. He should at least be able to distinguish them from 

 grasses They may be readily distinguished by the phyllotaxy (68). 

 The stems or culms are generally 3 -angled, particularly in the 



