18 FLOWERS 
Other names are often applied to the glume and lemma. In 
courses in Agriculture, the glume is often called outer or empty 
glume and the lemma, the flowering glume. 
The pistillate flowers are arranged on a cob and enclosed by 
husks, so that only the outer ends or silks of the pistils are 
Fig. 14. — A spikelet from the Corn tassel. Much enlarged to show the 
two staminate flowers 
The flowers are numbered (1) and (2), No. 1 being more mature. e, glumes; 
f, lemma; p, palea; s, stamens; J, lodicules. 
exposed. When the husks are removed, the flowers are seen 
arranged on the cob just as the kernels are in the mature ear, for 
each kernel develops from a flower. Explain what is shown in 
Figure 15. The pistillate flowers occur in groups of two’s or 
spikelets, but only one flower of the spikelet completes its 
development. The flower which remains rudimentary develops 
no silk and remains so inconspicuous that one needs a magnifier 
to see it. Since it has no pistil, its presence is known only by its 
bracts. In Figure 16, point out the rudimentary flower and the 
one that develops. 
