218 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist.^^ [Sept. 1, 1902. 
A perfect flower, that is one which has all 
its parts, such as ti e s'loe-flower, may be said 
to consist of four clistiucb kinds of leaves. The 
outermost and lowest of the flower leaves form 
the cnlyx, which consist of small gieeii struc- 
tures (the sepals) like little leaves. Somel.imes, 
as in tlie shoe-flower, we flad an extra growth out- 
side the calyx; this is called ilie epi-calyx, which 
is not commonly found. The flower leaves next 
to the calyx are the petals, which toge-.her consti- 
tute tl'.e corolla, the coloured and showy part 
of the flower. The calyx and corolla together 
may be called the protective organs of the flov/er 
since they protect the more important aiid e-seatial 
parts of the flower which are within them. 
The third series of flower leaves found next to 
the petals are the stamens in which you will still 
be able— as in the case of the caly x aiid corolla — 
to trace the original outlines of leaves. The 
stiamens consist of delicate stalks supporting a two- 
lobed structure corresponding to the blade of a 
leaf. Inside the two lobed structure or anther 
is a yellow powder — which is shod when the 
anther is ripe — called pollen. You will see later 
on that; this yellow powder is of the greatest 
importance in the formation of seeds. 
The last and innermost series of the flower 
structure is the pistil. It is not easy to recognise 
the leaf here, but with a little trouble you will be 
able to do so. The pistil consists of a more or 
less hollow structure below, containing what may 
be called seed buds or ovules which afterwaids 
become seeds. Aloue, it consists of a style or a 
delicate stalk holding up the stigma, or the part 
on which pollen is shed. The stigma is generally 
either sticky or hairy in order to catch the pollen 
grains. 
There, you have a general idea of the flower, and 
•what you should now do is to examine as many 
flowers as you come across, and see if you could 
pick out the different part.s you have been toM 
about. 
Remember that all flowers are not perfect. 
There are flowers that have only one of the pro- 
tective organs, as you will see if you examine the 
tube roses in your garden. Some flowers have 
stamens and no pistil, as you will find in some 
of the flowers borne by your bitter gourd (Karavila) 
or Lufla (Vetakolu) creepers. Again some flowers 
have only the pistil without stamens, as in the 
large-flowered papaw. As minor points note that 
the stalks of the stamens may be missing as in 
temple-flowers (araliyu), or the style may be 
wanting as in the papaw flower referred to above. 
I must tell you of another leaf-like structure 
which is sometimes found on the stalk that bears 
the flower.'s. This is tlie bracr, which is sometimes 
greeii, but more often brigliUy coloured or white. 
When large and enclosing a collection of flowers 
it is spoken of as a spathe. Carefully examine 
the coloured bracts of JPoiiisetlia and Bougainvillea, 
for which there are no vernacular names; but 
they are common enough in gardens. The spathes 
of the coconut and arecanut palms are familiar 
enough, while some of you may have seen the 
white spathe of the garden caladium and the 
large showy spathe of the arum lily which grows 
upcountry. 
THE FRUIT. 
In speaking abiub the various parts of the 
flower 1 made mention of the ovary. True fruits 
are formed by the developemeut of the ovary, 
and when mature tlisy contain one or more 
seeds which are nothing more than the ovules 
that have undergone certain important changes 
to be referred to later on. 
You can watch the growth of the ovary into 
the fruit in your own garden in the bandakka 
or brinjal plant, and note the changes that 
take place. 
Observe that some fruits are more or less 
dry and others are succulent. When the bean 
is mature it is dry, but a ripe orange or 
mango is quite succulent. 
Some fruits are of a very simple structure. 
In the bean, for instance, you can distinctly 
tr ice the leaf structure. The pod ra iy be said 
to consist of a leaf with its margins united, so 
forming a hollow body in which are contained 
the seeds. In the mango we can distinguish 
three layers in the structure which contains tiie 
seed : (1) the skin, (2) the pulp, and (3) the hard 
portion wrongly called the seed. The true seed 
of the mango is what is contained inside this 
so-called seed. The orange is not so simple 
in structure; it consists of a number of chambers, 
each of which has a few seeds imbedded in the 
succulent matter that is the portion that is 
eaten. The pineapple is still more cojaplex in 
structure; it is called a compound fruit because 
it results not from one but many flowers, "i'ou 
should notice the pineapple when it is in flower 
and see how a large number of flowers take 
part in the formation of the fruit. But the 
pineapple is a very strange fruit, for the stalk 
which bears the flowers and parts of the flowers 
beside the ovary, also help in the formation of 
the fruit, and what is most peculiar is that 
there is a crown of leaves borne on the flower- 
stalk where it comes out at the top. The 
j.ak and the breadfruit are also compound fruits 
of somew;hat similar structure to the pineipple. 
The coconut resembles the mango in structure 
though not in shape, size, &c. Instead of a 
succulent outer covering we have a mass of 
fibre, but like the mango we have an inner 
shell. The edible portion of the coconut is 
therefore the seed. Paddy is a very simple fruit 
with a dry scaley covering, and rice is the seed. 
You should notice that some fruits spring 
from below the flowers, while others spring from 
above it. In the guava the fruit is formed 
below, in the orange above the flower. Thus 
we speak of inferior and superior fruits. 
Some fruits wlien quite mature split open, 
so that the seeds may fall, this is seen in beans. 
Others, like the mango, do not split. Most dry 
fruits .split open while succulent fruits do not, 
but in the nutmeg you have a more or I6ss 
succulent fruit which splits open. 
There is still more for you to learn about 
fruits later on. 
THE SEED. 
You have some idei now of what is a seed. 
You know .that it is formed from the ovules 
found within the ovary, but you will naturally 
