
A CHAPTER TO STUDY. 9 
Staminate Flowers are those that have stamens but are 
without pistils. 
Pistillate Flowers are those that have pistils but no 
stamens. 
The terms MALE and FEMALE that are sometimes employed in- 
stead of STAMINATE and PISTILLATE are used wrongly and 
should be avoided by even those that have no pretention to 
botanical knowledge. It is the product of these organs and 
not they themselves that should be so called if the terms are 
used at all; but staminate and pistillate are the correct and 
accepted Bebiessions. 
Cleistogamous flowers are those small, inconspicuous blos- 
soms of the late season that usually grow near the ground and 
never open. They are, however, fruitful, being self-fertilized 
within themselves. Violets bear them abundantly. 
Leaves may be looked upon as appendages of the stem. 
They are the digestive organs of the plant and assimilate the 
sap into material for sustaining its tissues. 
The Blade is the usually broad, flat part of the leaf. 
Stipules are the two small blade-like parts at the base of 
the petiole. They are often inconspicuous, or absent. 
Bracts are the modified leaves of an inflorescence or those 
that are undera flower. Usually they are green and of different 
size and shape than the rest of the foliage; sometimes, how- 
ever, they are highly coloured and petal-like. 
The three principal ways in which leaves are arranged upon 
the stem are: 
Alternate: that is when one leaf appears just above the other 
on another side of the stem. (FIG. 27.) 
Opposite: when two appear at each joint, having the semi- 
circle of the stem between them. (Fic. 28.) 
Whorled: when they growat intervals in a circle around the 
stem, (FIG. 29.) 
The Veining of the leaves is classed under two divisions : 
Netted-Veined and Parallel-Veined. 
Netted—Veined leaves are those in which the veins branch 

