THE STUDY OF TYPICAL FLOWERS 147 



to the sepals. In an opening flower observe the arrangement of the 

 edges of the petals, — how many entirely outside the others, how 

 many entirely inside, how many with one edge in and the other out. 



Cut oif a sepal and a petal, each close to its attachment to the 

 flower ; place both, face dow;n, on a sheet of paper, and sketch about 

 twice the natural size and label it x 2. Describe the difference in 

 appearance between the outer and the inner surface of the sepal and 

 of the petal. Note the little scale at the base of the petal, inside. 



Strip off all the parts from a flower which has lost its petals, 

 until nothing is left but a slender conical object a little more than 

 an eighth of an inch in length. This is the' receptacle or summit of 

 the peduncle. 



In a fully opened flower note the numerous yellow-tipped stamens, 

 each consisting of a short stalk, the filament, and an enlarged yellow 

 knob at the end, the anther. Note the division of the anther into 

 two portions, which appear from, the outside as parallel ridges, but 

 ^\'hich are really closed tubes, the anther-cells. 



Observe in the interior of the flower the somewhat globular mass 

 (in a young flower almost covered by the stamens). This is a group 

 of pistils. Study one of these groups in a flower from which the 

 stamens have mostly fallen off, and make an enlarged sketch of the 

 head of pistils. Remove some of the pistils from a mature head, 

 and sketch a single one as seen with the magnifying glass. Label 

 the little knob or beak at the upper end of the pistil stigma, and the 

 main body of the pistil the ovary. Make a section of one of the 

 pistils, parallel to the flattened surfaces, like that shown in Fig. 186, 

 and note the partially matured seed'within.^ 



1 After Chapter XV has been completed the teacher may find it advisable 

 to dictate additional studies of some bilaterally symmetrical flowers. 



