96 



FLOWERS. 



[SECTION 8. 



Connate is a terra common for either not free or not distinct, that is, fox 

 parts united congenitally, whether of same or of different kinds. 

 Adnate, as properly used, relates to the union of dissimilar parts. 



272. In still another form of ex- 

 pression, the terms superior and 

 inferior have been much used in 

 the sense of above and below. 



Superior is said of the ovary of 

 Flax-flower, Cherry, etc., because 

 above the other parts; it is equiv- 

 alent to "ovary free." Or it is 

 said of the calyx, etc., when above 

 the ovary, as in Fig. 273-275. 



Inferior, when applied to the 

 ovary, means tlie same as " calyx 

 acluate ; " when applied to the !l<>- 

 ral envelopes, it means that they 

 are free. 



273. Position of Flower or 

 of its Parts. The terms superior 

 and inferior, or upper and lower, 

 are also used to indicate the relative 

 position of the parts of a flower in 



reference to the axis of infloros- 



'\tf\B 



274 



cence. An axillary flower stands between the bract or leaf which sub- 

 tends it and the axis or stem which bears this bract 

 or leaf. This is represented in 

 sectional diagrams (as in Fig. 275, 

 270) by a transverse line for the 

 bract, and a small circle for the axis 

 of inflorescence. Now the side of 

 the blossom which faces the bract 

 is the 



^interior, or Inferior, or Lower side ; 

 while the side next the axis is the 

 Posterior, or Superior, or Upper side of the flower. 

 271. So, in the labiate corolla (Fig. 250-258), the lip which is composed 

 of three of the five petals is the (tntrrior, or inferior, or loicer lip; the other 

 is the posterior, or superior, or upper lip. 



Flo. '2~'''>. Hawthorn-blossom in sect ion; parts agnate to whole face of ovary, 

 ami with each other lirynml; another jrrade of prrL'ynous. 



Fio. 274. Cranberry-blossom in section ; parts episrynous. 



Fio. 275. Diagram of papilionaceous flower (Robinia, Fig. 261), with bract be- 

 low; axis of inflorescence above. 



Fio. 276. Diagram of Violet-flower; showing the relation of parts to bract and 



it7o 



a MS. 



