I 



14 



EXAMINATION OF A BUTTERCUP. 7 



first a large number of little yellow bodies, each at the 

 top of a little thread-like stalk. Each of 

 these bodies, with its stalk, is called a 

 stamen. The little body itself is the 

 anther, and the stalk is it& filament. Your 

 Fig!' 6. magnifying glass will show you that each 



anther consists of two oblong sacs, united lengthwise, the 

 filament being a continuation of the line of union (Fig. 7). 



If you look at a stamen of a flower which 

 has been open some time, you will find that 

 each anther-cell has split open along its 

 outer edge, and has thus allowed a fine 

 yellowish dust to escape from it (Fig. 8).- 

 This dust is called pollen. A powerful 

 magnifier will show this pollen to consist of Fig. 7, 

 grains having a distinct form. 



As the stamens are many in number, and free from 

 each other, they are said to be polyandrous. 



7. On removing the stamens there is still left 

 1 a little raised mass (Fig. 9)-, which, with the aid 

 of your needle, you will be able to separate into 

 a number of distinct pieces, all exactly alike, and 

 ' ^' ■ looking something like unripe seeds. Fig. 10 

 shows one of them very-much magnified, and cut 

 through lengthwise. These little bodies, taken 

 separately, are called carpels. Taken together, 

 they form the pistil. They are hollow, ai.d 

 Fig, 10. each of them contains, as the figure shov", a 



Fig. 6. — Section of a flower of Buttercup. 



Fig. 7.— Stamen of Bdttercup. 



Fig. 8. — Tlie same, showing longitudinal opening of the anther. 



Fig, 9. — Head of carpels of Buttercup. 



Fig. 10. — A single carpel cut through lengthwise to show tlic o- 1;4?^ 



