13 M Rural School Leaflet 



The essential parts are the two inner series. The outer of these is 

 usually made up of stmctures that look like stalks with a thickened i^art 

 on the end. These structures are known as the stamens; the stalk is 

 known as the filament, and the thickened part on the end as the anther. 

 When the anther is ripe it breaks and gives off a powdery substance 

 known as pollen. 



The inner series of structures is made up of carpels, these being often 

 united to foiTn the pistil. The pistil bears the seeds. The pistil may 

 be com])Osed of cither one or more carpels; in cither case it is subdivided 

 into three parts. The lowest part, which is usually the largest part, is called 

 the ovary. This contains the seed or seeds. Aljove the ovary the pistil 

 is elongated into a structure known as the style, at the top of which is 

 the stigma. The nuinbcr of branches, or lobes, in the stigma usually 

 indicates the nimiber of carpels in the pistil. 



The stem that bears a flower is known as the pedicel; and the end of 

 the pedicel, or the part that the parts of the flower actually touch, is 

 called the receptacle, or torus. 



Now that the parts have been named, some of the variations and the 

 combinations that occur, should be considered. In the first place, not all 

 the parts are always present. Often, as in the anemone, one of the sets 

 of the floral envelope is absent, and in that case the remaining set is con- 

 sidered, the calyx. In many flowers the stamens are absent; in that case 

 there occur also on the same plant, or on another plant of the same species, 

 flowers with the pistils absent. In such plants the flowers are said to be 

 unisexual. When pistils a,nd stamens occur in separate flowers on the 

 same plant, the plant is said to be moncecious; and when pistillate flowers 

 (those without stamens) occur on one plant and staminate flowers (those 

 without pistils) on another, the plant is said to be dicecious. ' In a perfect 

 flower, the pistils and the stamens are in the same flower. 



Another variation that is commonly found has the parts of a series 

 united. When the sepals are united, the term gamosepalous is used, and 

 when the petals are united the term gamopetalous. A good example of a 

 gamopetalous flower is the morning-glory. The terms used in case the 

 petals are separate and the sepals are separate are polypetalous and poly- 

 scpalous, respectively. Besides the parts of a series being united, the 

 different series are sometimes united. Difl^erent terms are used in these 

 cases, also. When all the series are separate, as in figure i, the flower is 

 said to be hypogynous. The flower of a buttercup is hypogynous. It is 

 rather common to find the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens united, as 

 in figure 2. In this case the term perigynous is vised. When all the series 

 are united, and the petals, the stamens, and the sepals seem to come from 

 the top of the ovary, as in figure 3, the term epigynous is used. The com- 



