112 



THE FLOWER 



the same kind, and that this is most commonly accom- 

 plished b)' the aid of insects. The various forms of the 

 perianth are. as a rule, very definitely related to the work 

 of attracting the attention of insects, or of receiving- and 

 supporting them when they alight, or of guiding them to 

 the "honey"" or nectar secreted by special glands iit the 

 base of the flower. In view of such offices the labiate 

 corolla of tlie Mints, the tulndar or funnelform corolla of 

 the ?»rorning (.ilory, the spurred (nectariferous) petals of 

 the Columljine, and the irregular flower of the Violet, are 

 reailily understood. This subject will be treated more fully 

 under The Iv-ology of tlie Flower. 



215. The receptacle of tlic flower is that part which be- 

 longs to the stem. It is commonl}- short, and some- 

 what enlarged or knoblike. Flowers 

 with very numerous pistils generally 

 have the receptacle enlarged so as to 

 gi\ e them room ; it sometimes becomes 

 brdad and flat, as in the Flowering 



" > /" — ' Kaspbcrry ; sometimes 



loG. SfLtKiii Uiiough elongated, as in the 

 lUackberry (rig. liob), 

 the ^Magnolia, etc. It is the receptacle in 

 the Strawberry (Fig. loti ), much enlarged 

 and pulpy when ripe, which forms the eata- 

 ble part of the fruit, and bears tlie small 

 seedlike pistils on its surface. In the Rose 

 (Fig. 157), instead of being convex or 

 conical, the receptacle is deeply concave, 

 or urn-shaped. Indeed, a Rose hip may be likened lo 

 a sti'awberry turned inside out. 



216. In Nelumbo, of the Water Lily faiyily, the singu- 

 lar and greatly enlarged receptacle is shaped like a to[i, 

 and bears the small pistils immersed in separate cavities of 

 its flat upper surface (Fig. 1.58). 



217. Arrangement of the parts of the flower. — This is 

 most easilv studied in those flnwers, in whii/li all parts 

 are jiresent — calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils; in 



157. Lont^itiidinal 

 section of a 

 Rose. 



