122 



THE PISTILS. 



[LESSON 18. 



268 



323. Ovules (234). These are the bodies which are to become 

 seeds. They are either sessile, that is, stalkless, or else borne on a 

 stalk, called the Funiculus. They may be produced along the whole 

 length of the cell, or only at some part of it, generally either at the 

 top or the bottom. In the former case they are apt to be numerous; 

 in the latter, they may be few or single (solitary, Fig. 267-269). 

 As to their direction, ovules are said to be 



Horizontal, when they are neither turned upwards nor down- 

 wards, as in Fig. 252, 261 ; 



Ascending, when rising obliquely upwards, usually from the side 

 of the cell, not from its very base, as in the Buttercup (Fig. 267), 



and the Purslane (Fig. 214) ; 



Erect, when rising upright from 

 the base of the cell, as in the Buck- 

 wheat (Fig. 268) ; 



Pendulous, when hanging from 

 towards the top, as in the Flax 

 (Fig. 212); and 

 Suspended, when hanging perpendicularly from the very sum- 

 mit "of the cell, as in the Anemone (Fig. 269), Dogwood, &c. All 

 these terms equally apply to seeds. 



324. An ovule consists of a pulpy mass of tissue, the Nucleus or 

 kernel, and usually of one or two coats. In the nucleus the embryo 

 is formed, and the coats become the skin or coverings of the seed. 

 There is a hole ( Orifice or Forameii) through the coats, at the place 

 which answers to the apex of the ovule. The part by which the 

 ovule is attached is its base ; the point of attachment, where the ripe 

 seed breaks away and leaves a scar, is named the Hilum. The 

 place where the coats blend, and cohere with each other and with the 

 nucleus, is named the Chalaza. We will point out these parts in 

 illustrating the four principal kinds of ovule. These are not difficult 

 to understand, although ovules are usually so small that a good mag- 

 nifying-glass is needed for their examination. Moreover, their names, 

 all taken from the Greek, are unfortunately rather formidable. 



325. The simplest sort, although the least common, is what is 

 called the 



Ortkotropous, or straight ovule. The Buckwheat affords a good 



FIG. 267. Section of the ovary of a Buttercup, lengthwise, showing its ascending ovule. 

 FIG. 2J8. Section of the ovary of Buckwheat, showing the erect ovule. 

 FIG. 2C9. Section of the ovary of Anemone, showing its suspended ovule. 



