PISTILS. 



29 



4 3 1 2 



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



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

 more circles or ivhorls 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 achlamydt- 

 ous (tf, privative, and x^otfivg, a cloak). 



55. The CALYX {y-aXv^, a cup), therefore, is the external en- 

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

 with their edges distinct or united, usually green, 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 flower, 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 delicate structure 

 than the calyx. Its leaves are called petals 



57. The STAMENS are those thread-Uke 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 fertilization of the seed. They 

 are collectively called the androRcium [avdqeg,^ stamens, oixo;, a 

 house). 



• The plural of tvh^, a man, a term applied to the stamen, by LinnJEUs, in accordance 

 with his favorite theory of the sexes of plants. The term >t/v». woman, is, on the same 

 grounds, applied to the pistil. 



