Chapter IV: The Different Organs

MRS. BROWNE and Ella were sitting upon the porch which ran along the front of their country home. They were waiting for the boys to come to the botany study. Mrs. Browne had decided to have her class at home, thinking that the heavy rain of the evening before must have made it very damp in the woods.

Tom had gone to the office, and Ben—well, Ben was somewhere. That is what they always said of Ben, "Oh! He is somewhere."

"Mamma," said Ella in a whisper, "do look! There is the old man coming up the walk."

Mrs. Browne arose, and stepping forward waited. Evidently the man coming towards her was blind. He was led by a large dog, and was talking either to himself or to the dog.

"Yes, I'm sure of it; I should know the odor anywhere; it is wild roses; Ned, my dog, we must find them."

He had nearly reached the steps, and Mrs. Browne said,—

"Sir, can I do anything for you?"

"Pardon," said the stranger; "I did not know any one was here. Perhaps I am intruding? The perfume of wild roses carried me back to my early home, and it seemed as if I must be standing under my mother's window, and Ned and I thought we would find the roses."

"Ella," said Mrs. Browne, "get the scissors and cut some roses for the gentleman."

When the flowers were brought the stranger handled them tenderly.

"You wonder I should care, when I cannot see," he said; "but every leaf and petal is pictured in memory. I know the shade of green of the calyx; the delicate tint of the petals, the beauty of the half-open buds as well as if I could see. Thank you, madam, thank you!"

"Will you sit down and rest?" said Mrs. Browne kindly.

"No, thank you; I want to reach my journey's end at the next town this morning. My faithful Ned and I will jog on. Good-morning!"

"Mamma," said Ella, "can we study about the flowers themselves this morning? That blind man talked about things that I did not understand at all. I'm tired of leaves and roots and things."

"I do not know as we will study at all this morning," replied Mrs. Browne. "The boys are slow about getting here."

"There comes Ben, and I hear Tom whistling around the corner," and in a moment more the boys appeared and settled themselves for the talk.

Tom had brought a bunch of pinks, and Ben had some poppies which a neighbor had given him, while Ella held a spray of the wild roses.

"And so you want to talk about the flowers themselves?" said Mrs. Browne. "Well, if you will look, each of you, at the flowers you have you will find them made up of several parts. Tom, what do you find?"

Tom busied himself for a moment pulling apart a pink blossom, then replied, "I find this outside green part, and then there are the leaves of the flower and little slender thread-like things in the centre."

"The leaves of the flower, as you call them, are called the corolla; and the green envelope, which in your flower is shaped like a cup, is the calyx, while the slender parts in the centre are the stamens. And the one exactly in the middle is the pistil. Sometimes there are more pistils than one. Each division of the calyx is called a sepal, and each division of the corolla is a petal. Now you have quite a number of new names to-day to remember. What is the outside envelope?"

"Calyx," said Ella promptly, the boys chiming in a little behind time.

"And the separate parts of the calyx?"

"Sepals," said all together.

"Now the colored part of the flower?"

"The whole is the corolla, and the parts or divisions are petals."

"Correct."

"But, mamma!" exclaimed Bennie, "my flower has no green part on the outside. Do not all flowers have a calyx?"

"Some do not; but in the case of the poppy, the calyx falls off as the corolla expands. Notice the bud which you have, the calyx is just ready to fall off."

"I see," said Bennie, and the rest examined the bud which he passed around.

"Now notice that in the pink the sepals are united in one piece, forming a cup, while the petals are separate. Some flowers have united petals. Those we call monopetalous, and those like the pink we call polypetalous. The sepals, calyx and corolla taken together, are sometimes called the perianth. I do not remember if I told you that the root, stem and leaves are the organs of vegetation while the flower, fruit and seed are the organs of reproduction. Now the calyx and corolla are only the protecting parts, while the essential organs are the stamens and pistils. If you can remember all this, with all the new names, you will do well for to-day, and next time we will talk about the stamens and pistils. Just one thing more, you notice that as you pull out one of the petals of the pink there is a long, narrow part running down into the deep cup. We call that the claw of the petal. Now see if you can find all these organs in other flowers, and give them their names."

And leaving the children to busy themselves Mrs. Browne resumed her sewing, though she sat near and now and then joined in the talk which followed.