Zunaed ebooks

No woodland creeper rewards our care with greater
luxuriance of growth. Growing near our homes, the partridge vine
offers an excellent opportunity for study.
The two flowers at the tip of a branch may grow distinct down to
their united ovaries, or their tubes may be partly united, like
Siamese twins - a union which in either case accounts for the odd
shape of the so-called berry, that shows further traces of
consolidation in its "two eyes," the remnants of eight calyx
teeth. Experiment proves that when only one of the twin flowers
is pollenized by insects (excluded from the other one by a net),
fruit is rarely set; but when both are, a healthy seeded berry
follows. To secure cross-fertilization, the partridge flower,
like the bluets (q.v.), occurs in two different forms on distinct
plants, seed from either producing after its kind. In one form
the style is low within the tube, and the stamens protrude; in
the other form the stamens are concealed, and the style, with its
four spreading stigmas, is exserted.


Pages:
580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604