68 HOW PLANTS ARE PROPAGATED. 
‘ 
in some flowers very much like these, as in Buttercups (Fig. 238) and Goldthread, 
ee the flower may be still more incomplete, and 
' Naked, or Achlamydeous ; that is, without any flower-leaves at all, 
neither calyx nor corolla. ‘That is the case in 
the Lizard’s-Tail (Fig. 164), and in Willows. 
Or it may be incomplete by wanting either the 
stamens or the pistils; then it is 
205. An Imperfect or Separated Flower. Of course, 
if the stamens are wanting in one kind of blos- 
som there must be others that have them. Plants 
with imperfect flowers accordingly bear two sorts 
of blossoms, namely, one sort 
Staminate or Sterile, those having stamens only, and therefore not 
producing seed; and the other : 
Pistillate ov Fertile, having a pistil but no good sta- 
mens, and ripening seed only when fertilized by pollen 
from the sterile flowers. The Oak and Chestnut, Hemp, 
Moonseed, and Indian Corn are so. Fig. 165 is one of 
the staminate or sterile flowers of Indian Corn; these 
form the “tassel” at the top of the stem: their pollen 
falls upon the “silk,” or styles, of the forming ear below, 
consisting of rows of pistillate flowers. Fig. 166 is one 
of these, with its very long style. The two kinds of 
flowers in this case are 
Monecious ; that is, both borne by the same individ- 
ual plant; as they are also in the Oak, 
Chestnut, Birch, &c. In other cases 
Diectous ; that is, when one tree or herb 
bears flowers with stamens only, and another 
flowers with pistils only ; as in Willows and 
a Poplars, Hemp, and Moonseed. Fig. 167 is 
Moonseed Flowers. a, staminate flower from one plant of Moon- 
seed, magnified; and Fig. 168, a pistillate flower, borne by a plant from a different 
root. There is a third way: some plants produce what are called 
. Polygamous flowers, that is, having some blossoms with pistils only or with 
164 
Flower of Lizard’s-Tail. 
Indian Corn. 
