PISTILS. 



29 



4 3 1 2 



FIG. 4. — No. 1, Lily (Liliutn Japonicum) ; 2, pink (Dianihus); 3, a stamen ; 4, a pistil. 



54. The FLORAL envelopes, or perianth, consist of one or 

 more circles or tchorls of leaves, surrounding the stamens. The 

 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^afivg, a cloak). 



55. The CALYX (>f«Ai;|, a cup), therefore, is the external en- 

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

 with their edges distinct or united, usually gi-een, but sometimes 

 highly colored. The calyx-leaves are called sepals. 



56. The COROLLA (Lat. corolla, diminutive of corona, crown) 

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

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

 of some other color than green, and of a more dehcate structure 

 than the cal}'x. Its leaves are called petals 



57. The stamens are those thread-hke organs, situated just 

 within 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 fertihzation of the seed. They 

 are collectively called the androscium (ocvdgeg,* stamens, oixog, a 

 house). 



* The plural of «v«^, a man, a term applied to the stamen, by Linnaeus, in accordance 

 with his favorite theory of the sexes of plants. Tlie terra ywx, woman, is. on the same 

 grounds, applied to the pistil 



