CHAPTER XIIL 



MORPHOLOGY OF THE INFERIOR OVARY THE CHERRY 

 THE GOOSEBERRY THE OVULE THE EGG CELL 

 THE POLLEN GRAIN AND FERTILISATION EMBRYO- 

 LOGY. 



THE present chapter deals principally with the 

 structure of the ovule, and the development of the 

 embryo from the egg-cell. It also serves as an introduction 

 to Ch. XIV. in which the fruit is considered in detail ; for 

 this reason the morphology of the ovary is illustrated by 

 two examples, namely the cherry (or peach) and the 

 gooseberry. 



Cherry or Peach. 



If the flower of either of these species is divided 

 longitudinally as shown in figs. 76, 77, it will be seen that 

 the stamens, petals and sepals arise close together from 

 the edge of a cup, in the bottom of which the ovary is 

 seated. We might imagine a flower of this type to be 

 evolved from a flower like that of the buttercup by the 

 fusing together of the basal parts of the calyx, corolla and 



