you know any plant that produces seed without flowers? Some one
answers, "The corn, the elm, and the maple all produce seed, but have no
flower." No, that is not correct. If you look closely you will find in
the spring very small flowers on the elm and on the maple, while the ear
and the tassel are really the blossoms of the corn plant. Every plant
that produces seed has flowers, although they may sometimes seem very
curious flowers.

[Illustration: FIG. 31. A BUTTERCUP]

Let us see what a flower really is. Take, for example, a buttercup,
cotton, tobacco, or plum blossom (see Figs. 31 and 32). You will find on
the outside a row of green leaves inclosing the flower when it is still
a bud. These leaves are the _sepals_. Next on the inside is a row of
colored leaves, or _petals_. Arranged inside of the petals are some
threadlike parts, each with a knob on the end. These are the _stamens_.
Examine one stamen closely (Fig. 33). On the knob at its tip you should
find, if the flower is fully open, some fine grains, or powder. In the
lily this powder is so abundant that in smelling the flower you often
brush a quantity of it off on your nose. This substance is called
_pollen_, and the knob on the end of the stamen, on which the pollen is
borne, is the _anther_.

[Illustration: FIG. 32. A PLUM BLOSSOM]

The pollen is of very great importance to the flower. Without it there
could be no seeds. The stamens as pollen-bearers, then, are very
important. But there is another part to each flower that is of equal
value. This part you will find in the center of the flower, inside the
circle of stamens. It is called the _pistil_ (Fig. 32). The swollen tip
of the pistil is the _stigma_. The swollen base of the pistil forms the
_ovary_. If you carefully cut open this ovary you will find in it
very small immature seeds.

[Illustration: FIG. 33. STAMENS
_a_, anther; _f_, filament]

Some plants bear all these parts in the same flower; that is, each
blossom has stamens, pistil, petals, and sepals. The pear blossom and
the tomato blossom represent such flowers. Other plants bear their
stamens and pistils in separate blossoms. Stamens and pistils may even
occur in separate plants, and some blossoms have no sepals or petals at
all. Look at the corn plant. Here the tassel is a cluster of many
flowers, each of which bears only stamens. The ear is likewise a cluster
of many flowers, each of which bears only a pistil. The dust that you
see fall