14 
SCIENTIFIC. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
INP NANI NANARANANANANANA NS 
THE FLOWER. 
The flower is, as a rule, the most con- 
. spicuous portion of a plant, and the most 
important, because without it the per- 
petuation of the species could not be 
carried on, and the vegetable world would 
soon become a thing of the past, as would 
also the animal, which is so greatly depen- 
dent on it for life. When a plant flowers 
it may be said to be putting on its bridal 
garments, and the costumes of the different 
plants are as varied and beautiful as those 
adopted by brides of different nations 
throughout the world. ‘Be fruitful and 
multiply,” was the command given by the 
Creator when animal life was brought into 
being ; to the vegetable world also the 
command is applicable. Individuals have 
died in vast numbers in the past, but the 
type remains much the same throughout 
all generations. As Tennyson puts it when 
speaking of Nature, ‘So careful of the 
type she seems, so careless of the individual 
life.” 
Generally speaking, all the parts of a 
flower are modified leaves, and traces of 
the original leaf form can be readily 
detected ; this Nature shows by turning 
petals of Howers into green leaves (called 
a freak), and in double flowers where the 
stamens become converted into petals (as 
in the Rose). In many cases the inter- 
mediate forms between floral and foliage 
leaves can be seen on one plant. 
Now to describe the different parts of a 
flower. Here I cannot refrain from 
mentioning the fact that the terminology 
of Botany is more complete and exact 
than that of any other science, so descrip- 
tive and applicable are the terms used for 
each portion of the plant that it is possible 
to identify, without trouble, a specimen 
from a description which contains only a 
few lines. The terminology of Botany has 
changed but little since its inception, and 
this testifies to the ability and care dis- 
played by those early workers, who handed 
down to us such suitable and compre- 
hensive terms. 
Inflorescence, or the arrangement of the 
flowers on the axis must be noted. The 
common stall upon which the flowers are 
borne is called a peduncle ; if the flower 
possesses stalks which connect them to the 
. peduncle these are called pedicels ; when 
the flower springs from the peduncle with- 
out stalks they are said to be sessile. The 
peduncle may be fleshy and coloured ; 
spiral, as in the Vallisneria (an ingenious 
arrangement which insures the floating of 
the flower on the surface of water, ir- 
respective of tlie depth of water) ; or it may 
be spiny, as i Alyssum. When the floral 
axis becomes shortened and flattened out, 
bearing numerous flowers, it forms a 
receptacle, as in the Daisy, Fig, &c. The 
axis is sometimes leaf-like, or, as in the 
Coxcomb, fasciated, i.e, made up of 
bundles. Often adhesions take place 
between the peduncle, bracts, and leaves, 
which are difficult to trace | Occasionally 
the peduncle is abortive, and the flower is 
transformed into a tendril; and at other 
times it is hollowed at the apex, so as 
apparently to form the lower part of the 
flower (Eschscholtzia). At the end of the 
peduncle the flowers are arranged, and it 
is really the growing part of the axis 
arrested to form flowers, although, as in 
the case of the Arum, it forms a club- 
shaped column; in the strawberry it is 
succulent ; inthe Rose somtimes prolonged 
beyond the flower and bears leaves. There 
are two kinds of Inflorescence—(1) Indefi- 
nite, (2) Definite. In Indefinite Inflor- 
escence the lowermost flowers, i.e., those 
at the base open first, and the apex keeps 
on producing flowers, in other words 
flowers indefinitely. If the peduncle is in 
the form of a receptacle (Composite) then 
the outermost flowers expand first. Ex- 
amples—Spike, Raceme, Panicle, Corymb, 
Umbel, Capitulum, Spadix. 
Definite Inflorescence—In this . the 
uppermost flowers open first, or in the 
case of a head of flowers, the innermost 
open before the outer ones. It is definite 
because it is possible to say definitely 
where the flowering will cease. Examples 
—Solitary, Scorpioid cyme, Glomerule. 
Bracts—These are leaves in the axils of 
which the flowers are produced. There 
may be one large bract, as in the Arum, 
which surrounds the inflorescence ; two 
small ones, or a whorl (Daisy) underneath 
the flower, when they may be scaly and 
laid one over the other like the tiles of a 
roof. Anemone has three bracts branch- 
ing like leaves. Oftentimes, when coloured, 
bracts are mistaken for petals, as is the 
case in Bougainvillea, in which the flower 
is small and inconspicuous. Bracts may 
be conveniently grouped under three 
heads : (1) Assisting in the colorisation of 
the inflorescence (Euphorbia) ; (2) a num- 
ber of bracts may together mimica flower, 
the true floral whorl being insignificant 
(Everlasting) ; (3) bracts may pass by 
insensible graduation into the true floral 
whorl, there being no break between 
true bracts and true petals (Cactus). 
We now come to the _ flower 
proper, the most important parts 
of which are the pistil and stamens, 
as they are the portions absolutely 
necessary for the perpetuation of the 
species. The calyx and corolla are simply 
envelopes which serve to protect the pistil 
and stamens, and are means to an end, 
the highly-coloured and perfumed corolla 
being also an attraction -for insects, which 
in most cases are absolutely necessary for 
fertilization. 
(To be Continued), 
JULY 1, 1902.. 
- - REVIEWS. 
KERNER’S “NATURAL HISTORY OF 
PLANTS,” WITH BOTANICAL NOTES 
BYR Ss 
[We shall be pleased to review any books, mag- 
azines, or periodicals dealing with plants sent to 
us for that purpose.—Ep. ]. 
This work by Professor Kerner, trans- 
lated by Professor Oliver and assistants, 
will undoubtedly take high rank as a stan- 
dard book on: Botany. It contains about 
2.000 pages, admirably printed and illus- 
trated by a profusion. of: first-class wood- 
cuts, and several pictures’in colors in: the 
best’ style of German art. Its contents 
are addressed partly to the student,* but 
mainly to the intelligent readér not’ pos- 
sessed of technical knowledge.” ‘ The ‘first 
impressions given are that plants are‘much 
cleverer than animals: that’ they can de- 
fend themselves from attack by the: most 
ingenious devices, and can even carry the 
war into the enemy’s country: that they 
cau provide for times of scarcity: that 
they can work in co-operation: that they 
can make the most profitable use of ex- 
ternal circumstances, and that they know 
how, when their own race is run, to pro- 
vide good positions for their families. 
This idea is well elaborated by the late 
De. J. E. Taylor in his “Sagacity and 
Morality of Plants.” “4 
What is the agency that brings 
about the wonderful fitness of plants 
to their environment? Modern science 
says “Natural Selection.’ But ome 
thinkers are not satisfied with ihis 
explanation. They say that “Natural 
Selection” really means that plants vary, 
probably because two not quite identical 
arents are concerned with each individual 
plant, and that if the variation happens 
to suit the surroundings it lives; if not, 
it dies. Many failures, many blunders, 
and an occasional success! Henslow says 
that plants vary in a definite manner al- 
ways suited to the requirements of the 
case—no blunder, none unfitted to sur- 
vive. But whichever is right these 
theories deal only with secondary causes 
and modes of action; and some of the 
highest scientists join hands with the theo- 
logians and say there must be, above alll, 
a guiding mind, causing the modifications 
that take place to be, on the whole, bene- 
ficial. 
But let us get to our book: the pheno- 
mena of Nature will give us plenty of oc- 
cupation without troubling curselves 
about causes. 
Passing over the first hundred pages, 
not because they are uninteresting, ‘but 
because space restricts us to salient mat- . 
ters, we come to “‘flesh-consuming”’ plants ; 
plants which entrap insects, retain them, 
and finally digest them. 
The Sundews, the Bladder-worts, the 
Pitcher plants, and the Tooth Worts. 
Here the short, thick, fleshy leaves of the 
underground stem have the lower side 
swollen into a cavity with a very small 
inlet, through which minute creatures pass 
