The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-11-17
Ghildren's Column.
The Flowers and the Insects.

an ornament. 1t has really great work
to do; and if you can patiently wait
while we take flower to pieces you will
be rewarded by an ability to understand
the curious and beautiful things we shall
find in this most delightful study.
A perfect flower (some of our most
beautiful flowers are imperfect) consists
of calyx, corolla, stamens and pistils.
The calyx, which means Flower cup"
is generally green and leaf-like, and is
the very outer covering. Sometimes it is
quite prominent, and is very noticeable,
as on wild-rose bud; but on many
flowers it is very small. The divisions
or leaves of TIE calyx are called sepals
tbs co~5!1a is the inner cup or set of
leaves; it is more delicate than the calyx,
and is usually of some bright color-the
most snowy part of the blossom Its
leaves are called petals, and in double"
flowers they are multiplied many times
the original or natural number 1t is
rather sad to think that our beautiful
roses by becoming double lose all their
useful qualities, and, however fine and
magnificent the blossom may be to the
eye of the florist, it is an imperfect and
useless flower to the botanist For these
outer coverings, the calyx and the corolla,
are intended only for the protection of
the essential parts, which are the sta
mems and the pistils. The Stanae1as, each
of which consists of two parts, flament
and an anther, are just inside this cover
ing. They are often many in number,
sometimes even hundred, though one is
sometimes enough, and the commonest
number is five. The flament is simply
the stalk which supports the anther. The
o1ather is the little but very important
body which holds the small, yellow,
dust-like pollen. Be careful to remem-
Der this
In the very centre of the flower, often
in very CONSPICUOUS manner, stands the
pistil. Here the seeds are formed.
Down at the bottom, though it may be
too small for you to see it, is the ovary,
which after while grows to be the seed,
vessel. From the ovary rises a slender
little cody called the style, on the end of
which is moist rough surface, sometimes
a little enlarged, called the stigma. The
formation of the seed depends in some
mysterious manner upon the simple stick
ing fast to this stigma of some Of the pol
len from the stamen. Thus you see the
pistil is the most important part of the
flower.
These are all the organs which any
flower has; many flowers have not all.
AS you proceed in the study of botany
you will find how very curious this varia-
ton is. In order to prepare you for the
thorough enjoyment of the flowers we
shall look at together, please impress on
your mind the names and the uses of
these four things: the calyx, the corolla,
the stamens and the pistils, and then,
having finished this rather long and per-
haps little tidious lesson, we will make
little use of it.
Studying the flowers is like shooting
wild bird on the wing. They change
SO rapidly and follow each other in such
quick succession that Mr.. Thoreau used
to say he needed no other calendar to tell
the day of the month than the flowers.
Though this was not literally true, it was
not SO far from the truth as careless OBJ
servers would suppose. 1t is already
much too late In the summer to find some
of the flowers l would like to show you.
But those in bloom in the late summer
and till frost comes are as many and as
interesting as the flowers of spring.
One of the most curious things in plant
life is the part which bees and other in
sects play in helping flowers to perfect the
seed. No seed can grow, remember, I'M
til pollen from the stamens of the flow
ers has been carried to the pistil. 1t is
pretty certain, too, that the seeds grow
better when the pollen comes from the
blossom of another plant of the same
species. Bees that suck honey from
flower after flower are made useful in
carrying pollen from one to another
And multitude of other insects do the
same thing.
If it were earlier in the season we
should find the little Houstonia covering
whole hillsides with its delicate blueisR
blossoms. In a very simple way it'll
secures the carrying Of pollen from one
plant to another. On part of the plants
the stamens are higher than the pistil,
while on the rest they are lower than
the pistil. An insect entering the first
kind after honey gets pollen grains on
his back. Entering the second kind he
gets the pollen on his head. AS he goes
to other blossoms this pollen from the
first kind will touch the pistils of the
second kind and no other. while the mol