Lily-kin and Rose-kin 139 
numerous cousins of the pinks, the violets, almost 
every member of the immense buttercup connec- 
tion, and many other blossoms of many tribes, fol- 
low the rule of five with more or less fidelity. 
Other large families among the rose’s kin bear 
blossoms, whose parts, like those of the garden- 
fuchsia, are in fours or in multiples of four. 
Among the lily’s kin the parts of the flower are 
in threes, or their structure shows that they once 
followed the rule of three, which they have now 
partially abandoned. 
The lilies themselves have three sepals and 
three petals, generally much alike in color and 
texture (Fig. 30). Sometimes all six have grown 
together into a chalice, which is still bordered 
with six reminiscent scallops. 
Within these are three stamens—or, it may be 
six—forming an outer and an inner trio. At the 
flower’s heart there may be three pistils, or, as in 
the flowering rush, six. or one, which, when we 
slice it across, is found to contain three seed- 
pockets. Sometimes as the seed-vessel ripens these 
pockets break away from one another, so that the 
final result looks almost like three ripened pistils 
(Fig. 31). 
The blossoms of grasses and sedges have de- 
