THE PAETS OF THE ELOWER. 



191 



to the edible receptacle, that the flowers are produced. The sterile 

 bracts of the Daisy occasionally produce capitula, and give rise to 

 the Hen-and-Chickens Daisy. In place of de- 

 veloping flower-buds, bracts may, in certaia 

 circumstances, as in proliferous or viviparous 

 plants, produce leaf-buds. 



A sheathing bract enclosing one or several 

 flowers is called a spatha or spathe. It is com- 

 mon among Monocotyledons, as Narcissus, Snow- 

 flake, Arum (fig. 260 b), and Palms. In some 

 Palms it is 20 feet long, and encloses 200,000 

 flowers. It is often associated with the spadix, 

 and may be coloured, as in Eichardia sethiopica, ^s- ^^^■ 



sometimes called the ^Ethiopian or Trumpet lily. When the spadix is 

 compound or branching, as ui Palms, there are smaller spathes, sur- 

 rounding separate parts of the inflorescence, to which the name spaihellm 

 has sometimes been given. The spathe protects the flowers in their 

 young state, and often falls off after they are developed, or hangs down 

 in a withered form, as in some Palms, Typha, and Pothos. In grasses 

 the outer scales of the spikelets have been considered as sterile bracts, 

 and have received the name of glumes; and in Cyperacese bracts enclose 

 the organs of reproduction. 



3. — The Flower and its Appendages, 



The Flower consists of whorled leaves placed on an axis, the 

 internodes of which are not developed. This shortened axis is the 

 Thalamus or torus. There are usually four of 

 these whorls or verticils : — 1. The calyx, the 

 outer one. 2. The corolla. 3. The stamens, 

 4. The most internal one, the pistil Each 

 of these consists normally of several parts, 

 which, like leaves, follow a law of alternation. 

 Thus, the flower of Crassula rubens (fig. 282) 

 presents a calyx, c c, composed of five equal 

 parts arranged in a whorl ; a corolla, p p, 

 also of five parts, placed in a whorl within 

 the former, and occupying the intervals be- 

 tween the five parts of the calyx ; five stamens, e e e,m the space 

 between the parts of the corolla, and consequently opposite those of 

 the calyx ; and five parts of the pistil, o o, which foUow the same law 



Fig. 281. Acorn, or Fruit of the Oak. li, Capula or cap, formed by the imion of 

 numerous bracts or floral leaves, the free points of which are seen an'anged in a spiral 

 manner. Fig. 282. Flower of Crassula rubens. c c, Foliola of calyx or sepals, f, p. Petals, 

 e e. Stamens, o o, Carpels, each of them having a small scale-like appendage, a, at their 



Fig. 282. 



