' COAfPOUND FLOWERS. 307 



cious. Some plants have united flowers iind 

 sep'tirated ones in the same species, either 

 from one, two or three roots, and such are 

 called polygamous, as making a sort of com- 

 pound household. 



A Compound flower consists of numerous 

 fiorets, Jiosciili, all sessile on a common undi- 

 vided Receptacle, and enclosed in one conti- 

 guous Calyx or VeriantJdum. It is also 

 essential to this kind of flower that the An- 

 thers should be united into a C3dinder, to 

 which only the genus Tussilago affords one or 

 two exceptions, and Kuhnia another ; and 

 moreover, that the stamens should be 5 to 

 each floret, Sigesbeckia floscidosa of L'Heri- 

 tier, Stirp. jVoi\ t. 19? alone having but 3. 

 The florets are always monopetalous and su- 

 perior, each standing on a solitary naked 

 seed, or at least the rudiments of one, though 

 not always perfected. Some Compound flow- 

 ers consist of very few florets, as Humeaele" 

 gans, E.tot. Bot. t. 1, Prenanthes muralis, 

 Engl, Bot. t. 4^7 ; others of manj-, as the 

 Thistle, Daisy, Sunflower, &c. The florets 

 themselves are of two kinds, Ugulati, ligulate, 

 shaped like a strap or ribband, f. 210, with 3 



X 2 



