234 FLORA'S LEXICON. 



facilitate some necessary secretion : as, the petiolus, or footstalk 

 of the leaf; the pedunculus, or footstalk of the flower ; the 

 slijmla, or husk, that is, the small leaves that generally surround 

 the stalk at its divisions; the cirrhus, or tendril ; the pubes, or 

 down ; the arma, or defensive weapon, as thorns. 5. The fruc- 

 tification, or mode of fruit-bearing. G. The inflorescence, or 

 mode by which the flowers are joined to the several peduncles. 



The various parts of a flower are arranged under distinct 

 heads, consisting of the " Calyx" or Empalement : the " Blossom" 

 or Corolla : " Stamens" or Chives : " Pistils" or Pointals : " Seed 

 Vessels" or Pericarpium, and " Seeds" or Semina. To these are 

 to be added the " Nectary" and " Receptacle." The calyx is 

 formed of one or more green or yellowish-green leaves placed at 

 a small distance from, or close to the blossom. There are differ- 

 ent kinds of calyxes, as the perianthium or cup near the flower, 

 in the rose : — the involucrum, remote from the flower, in umbel- 

 liferous plants, as is seen in the hemlock and carrot: — the catkin, 

 or amentum, as in the willow or hazel : — the sheath, or spatha, 

 in the snow-drop: — the husk, or gluma, in wheat, oats, and dif- 

 ferent kinds of grasses : — the veil, or calyptra, covering the fruc- 

 tification of some of the mosses, and resembling an extinguisher: 

 — the curtain, or volva, surrounding the stems, and attached to 

 the pileus, or cap, that spreading part which forms the top of 

 several fungi, and covers the fructification, and which in the 

 common mushroom covers the gills. 



The Blossom is that beautifully coloured part of a flower, 

 which principally attracts the attention. It is composed of one 

 or more petals, or blossom-leaves. When it is united in one, as 

 in the Polyanthus or Auricula, it is termed a blossom of one petal, 

 but if it be composed of many parts, it is then said to be a blos- 

 som of two, three, or many petals. 



The Stamens are slender thread-like substances, generally 

 placed within the blossom, and surrounding the Pistils. It is 

 composed of two parts, the Filament or Thread, and the Anther 

 or Tip, but the latter is the essential. 



A Pistil consists of three divisions, the Germen or Seed-bud, 

 the Style or Shaft, and the Summit or Stigma ; but the second 



