Lesson 39 Flowers

Come out into the garden, said Fred, "and let us have a chat about the flowers. Can you tell me what is the use of the flowers, Norah?"

They have to form seeds, said Norah. "We sow the seeds the next season, and they grow up into new plants."

Quite right, said Fred. "Look at all these pretty flowers on the table. They seem to be made of leaves, but the leaves are not coarse and green, like the real leaves of the plant. They are soft and smooth and thin. If we take them in our hands, we are almost sure to bruise them. We may call them the flower-leaves. They are not all alike. See, there are red, white, pink, blue, yellow—all sorts of gay colours."

It is these flower-leaves that make our gardens look so pretty. said Norah.

Yes, said Fred, "but the flower-leaves, after a time, are of no further use. They fall off."

Let us strip off the flower-leaves from some of our flowers. That will do. Now what have we got inside?

These little slender stalks that stand up in a circle are the stamens. Teacher showed them to us this morning.

Look, Norah, he went on, "at the top of each of them there is a little yellow knob. Teacher says these knobs are little boxes filled with yellow dust. We call this dust pollen."

If we touch one of them, we shall get some of the dust on our fingers.

Now, watch while I strip off these stamens. What have we got left?

There is another stalk—a big one—in the middle of the stamens. said Norah.

Yes, said Fred, "this is all there is left. It is called the pistil. The seeds grow inside it, for it is not a stalk, but a box. When the stamens are no longer wanted they drop off. But the seed-box, with its seeds, grows bigger and bigger, till it is quite ripe."

SUMMARY

The flowers have to form the seeds from which new plants will grow. They consist of the pretty flower-leaves outside, and the stamens and pistil inside. In the very middle of all the parts is the seed-box.