Bittu Sahgal

Flowers are some of the prettiest and most attractive of all nature's creations and they are found in thousands of different colours and shapes; from the flaming orange gulmohur to the pure white jasmine; the delicate mauve morning glory to the golden sunflower.

Triodax procumbens
Photo: Dr Anish Andheria / Sanctuary Photolibrary

Apart from their outward colours and shapes how are flowers constructed? Which part is used for what purpose, and where do the fruits develop? These are only a few questions that you can ask yourself as you go about collecting, preserving and dissecting as many specimens as you can.

Collecting various flowers is an easy enough job. Plan an outing to a place where there are plenty of flowers in bloom and gather as many species as you can. (Remember, however, that several species of flowers are endangered, so be careful not to pick too many flowers of any one species.) Put several layers of either newspaper or blotting paper on a smooth board and on them arrange your flowers separately, making sure they don't touch each other. Cover them with yet another layer of newspaper or blotting paper and finally with a heavy board. Place several weights, books, stones, anything heavy on this board. Leave them this way until all your specimens are dry. Then take them out and arrange them in between the pages of a book. Either gum them down or fix them with little strips of Scotchtape. Be very careful however, or else the dried flowers will crumble. Underneath each specimen note down any interesting information you can --where the flower came from, what colour it was when fresh, what colour it is now, and so on. This is an important part of your experiment --your observations before and after.

Eranthemum roseum
Photo: Dr Anish Andheria / Sanctuary Photolibrary

Go ahead and dissect the flower you have been studying. Take five pieces of paper or card and note down all the various parts of the flower --stamens, pistil, petals, sepals, receptacle. Place each part of the flower in its appropriate place (You will need a knife, a pair of scissors for certain flowers, others will come apart easily with your hands.) Try, however, to select a simple flower --with only one row of petals, so that your task is made easier. If you brush one of the stamens, i.e., the anther portion, lightly over a piece of paper, you will see a yellow powdery substance left behind on the paper. Can you guess what this is? Also cut open an ovary, crosswise and count the number of ovules or seed pockets present. Are these seeds in the ovules? You may also try observing different kinds of pollen (the yellow powdery substance) from various flowers. Are they exactly the same? You will have to study this with a magnifying glass to notice minute variations.

And to make sure you never forget about the different parts of a flower, make a clay, paper and some toothpicks. And make your notes in your Nature Diary.