184 THE FLOWER. 



ovary is said to be inferior and the calyx superior, the calyx 

 and other parts, in consequence of the adnation of its lower part, 

 seeming to rise from the summit of the ovary. 



334. Adnation of iloral envelopes to pistil rarely extends 

 beyond the ovary ; yet, in species of Iris having a tube to 

 the perianth, this tube is commonly adnate for most of its length 

 to the style. But when the calyx has its tube or portion with 

 united sepals prolonged, the petals and the stamens are usually 

 adnate more or less to it, i. e. are inserted on the calyx. And, 

 when the petals are united and prolonged into a tube, the sta- 

 mens, being within the corolla, are commonly adnate to or 

 inserted upon this. 



335. No one doubts that the view is a true one which repre- 

 sents the perianth-tube as adnate to the st}'le in Iris, petals and 

 stamens as adnate to calyx in the Cherry (Fig. 337), stamens 

 as adnate to base of corolla in Fig. 334, and a long wa} - farther 

 in Phlox, &c. That the calyx is similarl}- adnate to the ovary 

 is nearlj" demonstrable in certain cases. 



336. But, as the lower portion of a pear is undoubtedly recep- 

 tacle, or rather the enlarged extremity of the flower-stalk, as in a 

 rose at least a portion of the hip is receptacle, as the tube of the 

 flower in a Cereus or other Cactacea has all the external char- 

 acters and development of a branch, so it is most probable that 

 in many cases the supposed calyx-tube adnate to an inferior 

 ovary is partly or wholly a hollowed receptacle (in the manner 

 of a Fig- fruit) ; that is, a cup-shaped or goblet-shaped develop- 

 ment of the base of the floral axis. This would bring the case 

 under 7. (326, 495.) 



4. IRREGULARITY OF SIMILAR PARTS. 



337. Irregularity, or inequality in form or in union of mem- 

 bers of a circle, is extremely common, either with or without 

 numerical symmetry. One or two examples may suffice. 



338. Irregular flowers with symmetrical perfection, except in 

 the gyna'cium, are well seen in the Pea Family, to which belongs 

 the kind of corolla called Papilionaceous, from some imagined 

 resemblance to a butterfly. (Fig. 34 2-344.) This flower is 

 5-merous throughout, has the full complement of stamens (10. or 

 two sets), but the gynoeciuna reduced to a single simple pistil. 

 The striking irregularity is in the corolla, the petals of which 

 bear distinguishing names : the posterior and larger one, exter- 

 nal in the bud, is the VEXILLUM or STANDARD (Fig. 344, a) ; 



