CHAPTER XIV 

 THE STUDY OF TYPICAL FLOWERS 



172. The Flower of the Trillium. — Cut off the flower-stalk rather 

 close to the flower ; stand the latter, face down, on the table and 

 draw the parts then shown . Label the green leaf-like parts sepals, 

 and the white parts, which alternate with these, petals. Turn the 

 flower face up, and make another sketch, labeling the parts as before, 

 together with the yellow enlarged extremities or anthers of the stalked 

 organs called stamens. 



Note and describe the way in which the petals alternate with the 

 sepals. Observe the arrangement of the edges of the petals toward 

 the base, — how many with both edges outside the others, how many 

 with both edges inside, how many with one edge in and one out. 



Note the veining of both sepals and petals, — more distinct in 

 which set?' 



Pull off a sepal and make a sketch of it, natural size ; then remove 

 a petal, flatten it out, and sketch it, natural size. 



Observe that the flower-stalk is enlarged slightly at the upper end 

 into a rounded portion, the receptacle, on which all the parts of the 

 flower rest. 



Note how the six stamens arise from the receptacle and their rela^ 

 tions to the origins of the petals. Remove the remaining petals (cut- 

 ting them off near the bottom with a knife), and sketch the stamens, 

 together with the other object, the pistil, which stands in the center. 



1 In flowers with delicate white petals the distrihution of the fibro-vascular 

 bundles in these can usually he readily shown by standing the freshly cut end 

 of the peduncle in red ink for a short time, until colored veins begin to appear 

 in the petals. The experiment succeeds readily with apple, cherry, or plum 

 blossoms ; with white gilliflower the coloration is very prompt. Lily-of-the- 

 valley is perhaps as interesting a flower as any on which to try the experiment, 

 since the well-defined stained stripes are separated by portions quite free from 

 stain, and the pistils are also colored. 



143 



