ELEMENTARY BOTANY. XVU 



121. Each carpel consists of three parts : 



1. the Ovary, or enlarged base, which includes one or more cavities or cells, con- 

 taining one or more small bodies called ovules. These are the earliest condition of the 

 future seeds. 



2. the Style, proceeding from the summit of the ovary, and supporting — 



3. the Stigma, which is sometimes a point (or punctiform stigma) or small head 

 (a capitate stigma) at the top of the style or ovary, sometimes a portion of its surface 

 more or less lateral and variously shaped, distinguished by a looser texture, and covered 

 with minute protuberances called papilla. 



122. The style is often wanting, and the stigma is then sessile on the ovary, but in 

 the perfect pistil there is always at least one ovule in the ovary, and some portion of 

 stigmatic surface. Without these the pistil is imperfect, and said to be barren (not 

 setting seed), abortive, or rudimentary (84), according to the degree of imperfection. 



123. The ovary being the essential part of the pistil, most of the terms relating to 

 the number, arrangement, etc., of the carpels, apply specially to their ovaries. In some 

 works each separate carpel is called a pistil, all those of a flower constituting together 

 the gynoecium ; but this term is in little use, and the word pistil is more generally 

 applied in a collective sense. When the ovaries are at all united, they are commonly 

 termed collectively a compound ovary. 



124. The number of carpels or ovaries in a flower is frequently reduced below that 

 of the parts of the other floral whorls, even in flowers otherwise symmetrical. In a 

 very few genera, however, the ovaries are more numerous than the petals, or indefinite. 

 Ihey are in that case either arranged in a single whorl, or form a head or spike in 

 the centre of the flower. 



125. The terms monogynous, digynous, poly gy nous, etc. (with a pistil of one, two, or 

 more parts), are vaguely used, applying sometimes to the whole pistil, sometimes to 

 the ovaries alone, or to the styles or stiemas only. Where a more precise nomenclature 

 « adopted, the flower is 



monocarpellary, when the pistil consists of a single simple carpel. 

 oi; tri-, etc., to poly-carpellary, when the pistil consists of two, three, or an inde- 

 lte n »mber of carpels, whether separate or united. 

 syncarpous, when the carpels or their ovaries are more or less united into one 

 impound ovary. 

 1 3P ocar Pous, when the carpels or ovaries are all free and distinct. 

 "o. A compound ovary is 



, unilocular or one-celled, when there are no partitions between the ovules, or 

 ton these partitions do not meet in the centre so as to divide the cavity into several 



Plurilocular or several-celled, when completely divided into two or more cells by 

 partitions called dissepiments (septa), usually vertical and radiating from the centre or 

 « ot the ovary to its circumference. 



ou, trt-, etc., to multi-locular, according to the number of these cells, two, three, 

 eic -> or many. 6 



row! 7 'f In general the number of cells or of dissepiments, complete or partial, or of 

 But ovules > corresponds with that of the carpels, of which the pistil is composed. 

 ro 80metun es each carpel is divided completely or partially into two cells, or has two 

 time, oyule8 » so that the number of carpels appears double what it really is. Some- 

 cell ^u m tne car P els are so completely combined and reduced as to form a single 

 casesTtiT a 8ingl ° 0vule » though it really consist of several carpels. But in these 

 su PPo d ° Vary ** U8ua % described as it appears, as well as such as it ia theoretically 



Very 8 ! 11 ! a P°carpous pistils the styles are usually free, each bearing its own stigma. 

 ovn«- y the Skater part of the styles, or the stigmas alone, are united, whilst the 



12? ? maIn di8tinct 



" ^"carpous pistils are said to have 

 <*eral styles, when the styles arc free from the base, 

 sonar!!* $f fe » with several branches, when the styles are connected at the base, but 

 e ^low the point where the stigmas or stigmatic surfaces commence. 



