Story Review Desk

Three archives, side-by-side versions, cleanup actions, and approval tracking.

Approved Stories
All Sources Back to catalog Fairytalez Open source Ririro Open source Grimm CMU Open source
Ririro · Kids Books

Pea Blossoms And Peas

kids-books--pea-blossoms-and-peas

Source URL https://ririro.com/kids-books/pea-blossoms-and-peas/
Review Status Pending
Original Rule Cleanup Compare Original vs Rule Cleanup

Original

Displayed from body

The Pea family is a large one, and it is worth our while to find out what plan it uses in flower building.

Let us look at a pea blossom and see of what parts it is made up.

“There is the green cup, or calyx,” you say.

Yes, that is plain enough. It is cut up into five little leaves.

“And there is a circle of flower leaves, which makes the corolla.”

Let us pull apart both calyx and corolla, and place the separate leaves as in the picture.

The five smaller leaves, the ones marked ca, are the green of the calyx.

The five larger ones, marked co, belong to the corolla. These, you notice, are not all alike. The upper one is much the largest.

The two side ones are alike.

In the real flower the two lower ones are joined so as to form a little pocket.

And what else do you find?

Now, if you do not pull apart the pea blossom, you find nothing else. But you know that the seed-holding fruit is the object of the flower’s life, and that so this flower is pretty sure to have somewhere either a pistil with its seedbox, or stamens with their dust boxes, or both; for without the seeds of the seedbox, and the pollen of the dust boxes, no fruit can result.

So, knowing that the pea blossom cannot give birth to a pea pod without stamens and pistil, let us have a search for these.

As I told you, the two lower leaves of the corolla are joined so as to form a sort of pocket. Now, surely, a pocket is meant to hold something. So take a pin and slit open this pocket. As the two sides spring apart, out flies some golden pollen, and we see that the little pocket is far from empty. It holds ten stamens and one pistil.

If you look at these carefully, you see that one stamen stands alone, while the other nine have grown together, forming a tube which is slit down one side. This tube clings to the lower part of the pistil.

Now, if you pull this tube away, what do you see?

You see a little, green, oblong object, do you not?

And what is it? Do you not recognize it?

Why, it is a baby pea pod. Within it lie the tiny green seeds which are only waiting for the fresh touch of life from a pollen grain to grow bigger and bigger till they become the full-grown seeds of the pea plant,—the peas that we find so good to eat when they are cooked for dinner.

So, after all, the building plan of the pea blossom is nothing but the old-fashioned one which reads

Had I not told you to do so, I wonder if you would have been bright enough to pull apart the little pocket and discover the stamens and pistil.

What do you think about this?

Mrs. William Starr Dana was an American nature writer best known for her landmark 1893 book How to Know the Wildflowers , which helped bring botanical knowledge to a popular audience. This piece reflects her signature approach: turning careful observation into an accessible, almost conversational lesson that encourages readers to get their hands dirty and find the answers for themselves.

Raw JSON 
{
  "kind": "story",
  "canonical_url": "https://ririro.com/kids-books/pea-blossoms-and-peas/",
  "slug": "pea-blossoms-and-peas",
  "story_dirname": "kids-books--pea-blossoms-and-peas",
  "section_slug": "kids-books",
  "title": "Pea Blossoms And Peas",
  "author": null,
  "publisher_label": "Ririro",
  "source_version": "unknown",
  "content_type": "chapter_book",
  "language": "en",
  "summary": "Pea Blossoms And Peas invites readers to pull apart a pea flower petal by petal and uncover what hides inside. Mrs. William Starr Dana guides the curious observer through calyx, corolla, and a small pocket formed by the two lowest petals — a pocket that turns out to be far from empty. Slit it open and out flies golden pollen, revealing ten stamens, one pistil, and a tiny baby pea pod already waiting to grow. A short, hands-on nature study that makes plant anatomy feel like a genuine discovery.",
  "body": [
    "The Pea family is a large one, and it is worth our while to find out what plan it uses in flower building.",
    "Let us look at a pea blossom and see of what parts it is made up.",
    "“There is the green cup, or calyx,” you say.",
    "Yes, that is plain enough. It is cut up into five little leaves.",
    "“And there is a circle of flower leaves, which makes the corolla.”",
    "Let us pull apart both calyx and corolla, and place the separate leaves as in the picture.",
    "The five smaller leaves, the ones marked ca, are the green of the calyx.",
    "The five larger ones, marked co, belong to the corolla. These, you notice, are not all alike. The upper one is much the largest.",
    "The two side ones are alike.",
    "In the real flower the two lower ones are joined so as to form a little pocket.",
    "And what else do you find?",
    "Now, if you do not pull apart the pea blossom, you find nothing else. But you know that the seed-holding fruit is the object of the flower’s life, and that so this flower is pretty sure to have somewhere either a pistil with its seedbox, or stamens with their dust boxes, or both; for without the seeds of the seedbox, and the pollen of the dust boxes, no fruit can result.",
    "So, knowing that the pea blossom cannot give birth to a pea pod without stamens and pistil, let us have a search for these.",
    "As I told you, the two lower leaves of the corolla are joined so as to form a sort of pocket. Now, surely, a pocket is meant to hold something. So take a pin and slit open this pocket. As the two sides spring apart, out flies some golden pollen, and we see that the little pocket is far from empty. It holds ten stamens and one pistil.",
    "If you look at these carefully, you see that one stamen stands alone, while the other nine have grown together, forming a tube which is slit down one side. This tube clings to the lower part of the pistil.",
    "Now, if you pull this tube away, what do you see?",
    "You see a little, green, oblong object, do you not?",
    "And what is it? Do you not recognize it?",
    "Why, it is a baby pea pod. Within it lie the tiny green seeds which are only waiting for the fresh touch of life from a pollen grain to grow bigger and bigger till they become the full-grown seeds of the pea plant,—the peas that we find so good to eat when they are cooked for dinner.",
    "So, after all, the building plan of the pea blossom is nothing but the old-fashioned one which reads",
    "Had I not told you to do so, I wonder if you would have been bright enough to pull apart the little pocket and discover the stamens and pistil.",
    "What do you think about this?",
    "Mrs. William Starr Dana was an American nature writer best known for her landmark 1893 book How to Know the Wildflowers , which helped bring botanical knowledge to a popular audience. This piece reflects her signature approach: turning careful observation into an accessible, almost conversational lesson that encourages readers to get their hands dirty and find the answers for themselves."
  ],
  "body_text": "The Pea family is a large one, and it is worth our while to find out what plan it uses in flower building.\n\nLet us look at a pea blossom and see of what parts it is made up.\n\n“There is the green cup, or calyx,” you say.\n\nYes, that is plain enough. It is cut up into five little leaves.\n\n“And there is a circle of flower leaves, which makes the corolla.”\n\nLet us pull apart both calyx and corolla, and place the separate leaves as in the picture.\n\nThe five smaller leaves, the ones marked ca, are the green of the calyx.\n\nThe five larger ones, marked co, belong to the corolla. These, you notice, are not all alike. The upper one is much the largest.\n\nThe two side ones are alike.\n\nIn the real flower the two lower ones are joined so as to form a little pocket.\n\nAnd what else do you find?\n\nNow, if you do not pull apart the pea blossom, you find nothing else. But you know that the seed-holding fruit is the object of the flower’s life, and that so this flower is pretty sure to have somewhere either a pistil with its seedbox, or stamens with their dust boxes, or both; for without the seeds of the seedbox, and the pollen of the dust boxes, no fruit can result.\n\nSo, knowing that the pea blossom cannot give birth to a pea pod without stamens and pistil, let us have a search for these.\n\nAs I told you, the two lower leaves of the corolla are joined so as to form a sort of pocket. Now, surely, a pocket is meant to hold something. So take a pin and slit open this pocket. As the two sides spring apart, out flies some golden pollen, and we see that the little pocket is far from empty. It holds ten stamens and one pistil.\n\nIf you look at these carefully, you see that one stamen stands alone, while the other nine have grown together, forming a tube which is slit down one side. This tube clings to the lower part of the pistil.\n\nNow, if you pull this tube away, what do you see?\n\nYou see a little, green, oblong object, do you not?\n\nAnd what is it? Do you not recognize it?\n\nWhy, it is a baby pea pod. Within it lie the tiny green seeds which are only waiting for the fresh touch of life from a pollen grain to grow bigger and bigger till they become the full-grown seeds of the pea plant,—the peas that we find so good to eat when they are cooked for dinner.\n\nSo, after all, the building plan of the pea blossom is nothing but the old-fashioned one which reads\n\nHad I not told you to do so, I wonder if you would have been bright enough to pull apart the little pocket and discover the stamens and pistil.\n\nWhat do you think about this?\n\nMrs. William Starr Dana was an American nature writer best known for her landmark 1893 book How to Know the Wildflowers , which helped bring botanical knowledge to a popular audience. This piece reflects her signature approach: turning careful observation into an accessible, almost conversational lesson that encourages readers to get their hands dirty and find the answers for themselves.",
  "theme_slugs": [],
  "listing_memberships": [
    {
      "type": "author",
      "slug": "mrs-william-starr-dana",
      "title": "Mrs. William Starr Dana",
      "url": "https://ririro.com/author/mrs-william-starr-dana/"
    }
  ],
  "reading_meta": {
    "reading_level": null,
    "age_band": null,
    "read_time": null
  },
  "media": {
    "has_audio": false,
    "has_pdf": true,
    "has_images": true
  },
  "asset_refs": {
    "pdf_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Pea-Blossoms-And-Peas_compressed.pdf"
    ],
    "audio_urls": [],
    "image_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pea-blossoms-and-peas.jpg",
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pea-blossoms-and-peas-2.jpg",
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pea-blossoms-and-peas-3.jpg",
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pea-blossoms-and-peas-4.jpg",
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pea-blossoms-and-peas-5.jpg",
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pea-blossoms-and-peas.png"
    ]
  },
  "breadcrumbs": [
    "Pea Blossoms And Peas"
  ],
  "scraped_at": "2026-05-07T12:34:42+00:00"
}