70 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



tain definite numbers and that five and three are prime 

 favorites. In the five-parted flowers there is normally a 

 calyx of five sepals, a corolla of five petals, a set of five 

 stamens and another of five pistils. When the number in 

 any circle varies it will be found to be some multiple of 

 five. The pistils are frequently less than five but such 

 cases are due to a consolidation of the original five. Ex- 

 amples of five-parted flowers may be found is the apple, 

 peach, cherry, buttercup, cinquefoil, bramble, mallow, 

 phlox, pink and saxifrage. Such blossoms are usually as- 

 sociated with plants having broad and net veined leaves. 

 In the three-parted flowers, sepals, petals, stamens 

 and pistils are found is sets of three or some multiple of 

 this number. An excellent example is found in the trillium 



(fig. 4) which has three sepals, 

 three petals, six stamens and one 

 pistil though the latter shows very 

 plainly that it is a consolidation of 

 three. The three-parted fiowers are 

 Hi, usually found on lily-like plants 

 with narrow, parallel- veined leaves. 

 Examples may be found in the lily, 

 crocus, amaryllis, tulip, iris, onion, 

 and water-plantain. In most ol 

 these there appear to be six petals 

 of the same color and no sepals, but 

 will reveal the fact that the three 

 that were outside in the bud are slightly broader and 

 thicker than the rest and so for our purpose may just as 

 well be called sepals. The six colored divisions of three- 

 parted flowers are usually called collectively the perianth. 



r 



J ] 



Fig, 4. 



a close examination 



Maple Sugar. — More than fifty million pounds of 

 sugar and three million gallons of maple syrup are pro- 

 duced annually in the maple forests of the northern United 

 States, according to Forestry and Irrigation. Nearly 

 one-fifth of all the granulated sugeir made in the United 

 States is obtained from our woodlands. 



