. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. 6so Handbook of Nature-Study filaments disengages itself, and lying close to the style thrusts its anther up into the point of the keel, below the stigma. But strange to say, one lone, lorn stamen "flocks by itself" above the pistil, curving its anther up stigma-ward. If we touch the point of the keel with the finger, up fly—like a jack-in-the-box—the anthers splashing the finger with pollen; and if a bee, in her search for nectar, alights on the wings at the very base of th
. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. 6so Handbook of Nature-Study filaments disengages itself, and lying close to the style thrusts its anther up into the point of the keel, below the stigma. But strange to say, one lone, lorn stamen "flocks by itself" above the pistil, curving its anther up stigma-ward. If we touch the point of the keel with the finger, up fly—like a jack-in-the-box—the anthers splashing the finger with pollen; and if a bee, in her search for nectar, alights on the wings at the very base of the petals, up flies the pollen brush and daubs her with the yellow dust, which she may deposit on the stigma of another flower. The interesting part of this mechanism is the brush near the tip of the style below the stigma—a veritable broom, with splints all directed upward. As the pollen is dis- charged around it, the brush lifts it up when the keel is pressed down, and the stiff petals fonn- ing the keel, in springing back to place, scrape off the pollen and plaster it upon the visitor. But for all this elaborate mechanism, sweet peas, of all flowers, are the most difficult to cross-poUenate, since they are so likely to receive some of their own pollen during this process. The sweet-pea bud droops, a tubular calyx with its five-pointed lobes forming a bell to protect it. Within the bud the banner petal clasps all in its protecting embrace. After the petals fall, the young pod stands out from the calyx, the five lobes of which are recurved and remain until the pod is well grown. As the sweet pea ripens, all the moisture is lost and the pod becomes dry and hard; through the dampness of dews at night and the sun's heat which warps it by day, finally each side of the pod suddenly coils into a spiral, flmging the seed many feet distant in different Sweet pea pod Ijursling in spiral. LESSON CLXV The Sweet Pea Leading thought—The sweet pea has its leaflets change
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