142 



Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



have very curious shapes. We liken them to butterflies, 

 spiders, bells, trumpets, lips, kalkoentjes, patrijsjes, kapjes ; but 

 since Latin names have been longest in books, we still use 

 them. The most important thing is to know the flowers and 



to find out, if possible, how 

 they came by their different 

 forms. \\'hen the parts of the 

 corolla and calyx are all the 

 same shape, the flowers are 

 \%^ /Vi regular or actinomorphic. 



W Ilvttf \\'hen they are two-lipped, 



like Lobelia, or butterfly- 



FlG. 134. — DispfTJ^ caf'ensis, Swtz. 

 (Moeder capjes or Hottentot boii- 



FKi. 13c;. — Valvate .lestivation of Aca- 

 ! hi horrida , Willd. (From Edmonds 

 and Marloths '' jLlementary liotany 

 for South Africa ". ) 



shaped, like the Pea, they are irregular or zygomorphic.^ 

 Bright-coloured flowers are often zygomorphic. 



Flowers built on the plan of three often have sepals and 

 petals of similar shape and colour. By this time you have ob- 

 served that certain flowers have three sepals, three petals, and 

 that the stamens and carpels are also three or some multiple of 

 three, while others are built on the ]jlan of five. Four is less 

 commonly the number found. 



./Estivation. — Like the leaf buds, flower buds have their 

 parts neatly folded. The stamens are curved inward to bring 

 the anthers as near the centre as possible, and sepals and petals 

 are wra[)ped around them. Sometimes petals and sepals are 



^ Of these terms zygomorpliic, though a more difficult word to use at 

 first, is preferable, as the term irregular suggests that the flower is not sym- 

 metrical, as it generally is, 



