OTHER TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING FLOWERS 203 
sections on Pollination and Fertilization). The stigma and 
the style are parts which help to fulfill these conditions. 
The position of the ovules in the ovary, the adaptations of 
the stigma for catching and holding pollen, the position of 
the stamens with reference to it, the adaptations of the 
pistil for the passage of the pollen tubes through it, — all 
these furnish the basis for a fascinating study which can be 
carried on by anyone who 
has access to flowers, and 
who has time and pa¬ 
tience. 
When a flower has fin¬ 
ished its work, namely to 
secure the fertilization of 
its ovules, its showy parts 
wither, if it had any, and 
the fruit begins to form. 
Usually it is only the 
ovary which enters into 
the fruit; but in some 
cases, the receptacle is in¬ 
cluded, and in others the 
calyx remains unchanged. 
The biologist who is interested chiefly in adaptations of 
flowers and in their relations to insects will not need many 
scientific terms for his work. Persons who have occasion 
to classify plants, however, need to know a few more terms. 
Farmers and gardeners need to know other facts about 
flowers. For them still other terms are necessary. 
189. Other Terms Used in Describing Flowers. — Flowers 
which lack any one of the four sets of parts which the nas¬ 
turtium has are incomplete flowers. The apetalous flowers 
of the grasses are examples. 
Imperfect flowers bear only one of the essential parts of 
a flower; so we find staminate flowers, bearing stamens only, 
