. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. Wild-Flower Study SSI. Cat-tail flag in blossom. The staminate flowers are massed at the tip, and the pistillate flowers which form the "cat-tail" are massed lower down on the stalk. Photo by Verne Morton. THE CAT-TAIL Teacher's Story In June and early July, if the cat-tail be closely observed, it will be seen to have the upper half of the cat's tail much narrower and different in shape from the lower half—as if it were covered with a quite different fur. It seems to be clot
. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. Wild-Flower Study SSI. Cat-tail flag in blossom. The staminate flowers are massed at the tip, and the pistillate flowers which form the "cat-tail" are massed lower down on the stalk. Photo by Verne Morton. THE CAT-TAIL Teacher's Story In June and early July, if the cat-tail be closely observed, it will be seen to have the upper half of the cat's tail much narrower and different in shape from the lower half—as if it were covered with a quite different fur. It seems to be clothed with a fine drooping fringe of olive-yellow. With the aid of a lens, we can see that this fringe is a mass of crowded anthers, two or three of them being attached to the same stalk by a short filament. These anthers are packed full of pollen, which is sifted down upon the pistillate flowers below by every breeze; and with every puff of stronger wind, the pollen is showered over all neighboring flowers to the leeward. There is not much use in trying to find the pistillate flowers in the plush of the cat-tail. They have no sepals nor petals, and are so imbedded in the thick pappus which forms the plush that the search is hardly worth while for nature-study, unless a micro- scope is used. The ovary is rather long, the style slender, and the stigma reaches out to the cut-plush surface of the cat-tail. The pupils can find what these flowers are by studying the seed; in fact, the seed does not differ very much from the flower, except that it is mature and is browner in color. It is an interesting process to take apart a cat-tail plant; the lower, shorter leaves surround the base of the plant, giving it size and strength. All the leaves have the same general shape, but vary in length. Each leaf consists of the free portion, which is long and narrow and flat towards its tapering tip but is bent into a trough as it nears the plant, and the lower. Please note that these images are
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