PISTILS. 



29 



4 3 1 2 



pjG. 4. — No. 1, Lily (Lilium Japonicum) ; '-', pink (Dianilms) ; 3, a stamen ; 4, a pistil. 



54. Tlie FLORAL ENVELOPES, Or PERIANTH, COllSlSt of 0116 Or 



more circles or ivJwrls of leaves, surrounding the stamens. Tlie 

 outer of these whorls is called the calyx, and the other, if there 

 be any, the corolla. The calyx may, therefore, exist without the 

 corolla, but the corolla cannot exist without the calyx. If nei- 

 ther of them exist, the flower is said to be naked, or achlamyde- 

 ous («, privative, and x^-«f'^s, a cloak). 



55. The CALYX (xaAi^i, a cup), therefore, is the external en- 

 velope, the cicp, of the flower, consisting of a whorl of leaves, 

 with their edges distuict or united, usually green, but sometimes 

 highly colored. The calyx-leaves are called sepals. 



56. The COROLLA (Lat. corolla, diminutive of coro7ia, croum) 

 is the interior envelope of the flower, consisting of one or more 

 circles of leaves, either distinct, or united by then edges, usually 

 of some other color than gi-een, and of a more deheate structure 

 than the cal^rx. Its leaves are called petals 



57. Tlie stamens are those tliread-like organs, situated just 

 witliin the perianth and around the pistils. Their number 

 varies from one to a hundred, but the most common number 

 is five. Their office is, the fertilization of the seed. They 

 are collectively called the andrcccinm [avdQeg* stamens, oixo;, a 

 house). 



* The plural of "-vn^, a man, a term applied to the stamen, by Linnseus, in accordance 

 with his favorite theory of the sexes of platits. The term J" ^f , woman, is, on the same 

 grounds, applied to the pistil. 

 ?.* 



