INTRODUCTORY 
A plant is a wonderful organism, yet how few of us realize it as we casually glance at the 
flowers growing by the wayside. We see a beautiful flower; we know that in the course ol time it 
withers and fades away; and we know that the next year the plant grows up again, sends tortli its 
buds, which at the proper time unfold their petals, and so the cycle continues year alter year, 
while we give little thought to the change that occurs, the cause and its effect. V olumes might be 
written, and a great many have been since the time of Darwin, upon the many interesting proc¬ 
esses by which various flowers are propagated. As this book is confined chiefly to the identification 
of flowers we will give but a few illustrations between flowering seasons. We see in most flowers a 
thing of beauty; their real and, to them, most important functions is to produce seeds to per¬ 
petuate the species. . .1 
The parts of a flower that are necessary to produce seeds are the pistil, with its stigma at the 
top and ovule at the base, and the stamens with their pollen-laden anthers. A flower that has- 
these organs is known as a perfect flower; if, in addition, it has a corolla and calyx, or petals and 
sepals, it is known as a complete flower. On the opposite page are shown a number ol flowers with 
then-iP ^ er t | iat geed may be set? i t j s necessary that ripened pollen from the anthers should come 
in contact with the usually sticky stigma, whence it will be transmitted down the style and germi¬ 
nate the ovule. As is well known to be the case with the higher animals, cross-fertilization is 
7 
