56 



BOYS AND GIRLS IN BIOLOGY. 



has a long, hard name, vexillum, which you can easily 

 remember because it means flag. The bean is very 

 patriotic, it carries its banner with it wherever it goes. I 

 suppose the English boys call this flag the " Union Jack ; " 



Fig. 46. 



Flag, or Vextllu»m, of Bean. Wing, or Ala, of Bean. 



you, perhaps, will call yours the " Stars and Stripes," 

 but I never heard of beans carrying their banners into 

 battle. The sides of the crown are made of two leaves, 

 called the al^, or wings (Fig. 47). They are formed 

 somewhat like the wings of birds. The next two co- 

 rolla, or crown-leaves, are odd shaped, and look at first 

 sight like one, because they are so closely joined. The 

 two together look quite like the keel or bottom of a ship, 

 so they are called the carina, or keel (Fig. 48). This 

 corolla, or crown of the flower, is one of the queerest in 

 the world ; indeed, it looks more like a butterfly than a 

 flower. Inside the corolla, or crown, we come to the 



