ee ,. 
AN * ENCYCLOPADIA 
-_- 
OF HORTICULTURF. 537 
Ovary—continued. ' 
which springs from the surface along the midrib of the 
carpel, enlarging as the seeds ripen. 
Fig. 797. CROSS SECTION OF NEARLY RIPE POD OF ASTRA- 
8 Partition growing from near Midrib towards 
centæ. 
3. The typical structure of the Ovary is departed 
from in some plants, in the growth, after the seeds 
form, of a number of cross partitions; so that each carpel 
- is made up of a row of divisions, with one seed in 
each 
0 
= 4. The typical situation of the Ovary is, as we have 
seen, at the tip of the flower-stalk (receptacle), or, at 
least, nearer to it than are the other parts of the flower 
Fig. 798. DIAGRAMS TO ILLUSTRATE MODIFICATIONS OF RE- 
CEPTACLE, IN LONGITUDINAL SECTIONS OF FLOWERS. In each 
the parts shown are—(r) Receptacle, (s) Sepals, o) Petals, 
(st) Stamens, and (c) Carpel, with Ovary, Style, and Stigma. 
A, Receptacle rounded, with Carpel on tip; B, Receptacle 
forms a Saucer-like Disk; C, Receptacle forms a Cup around, 
but not joined to, Ovary ; D, Receptacle forms a Cup, united to 
Ovary, which is sunk in it tonear the top. In B, C, and D, the 
Ovary is at the true tip of the Receptacle; and the Sepals, 
58 and Stamens grow out from the edge of the Disk or 
up. 
(see A, Fig. 798). But in many plants the Ovary seems to 
be more or less completely sunk in the flower-stalk, 
and to be surrounded by the sepals, petals, and 
stamens grown together. More careful observation leads 
to the belief that the receptacle produces, below its 
apex, a flat ring (see B, Fig. 798) (e.g., in Strawberry), 
or a cup, which may surround the Ovary (see C, Fig. 
798), either (e.g., Cherry) without being united with it, 
or united to it in part (e.g., Saxifrages), or throughout 
its whole length (see D, Fig. 798) (e.g., Carrot, Cam- 
panula, &c.), or even projecting beyond it (e.g., Fuchsia), 
Fig. 799. Cross SECTION OF HALF-RIPE CHERRY, showin ) 
Pulpy Flesh and (s) Stone. The infolded Edges are e 5 a 
seen. 
so that it is concealed. Great use has been made of 
these differences in Systematic Botany, though absolute 
reliance on them at times tends to separate nearly allied 
plants. 
Vol. II. 
Ovary—continued. 
5. Still another’ mode of departure from the leaf- 
type shows itself in many Ovaries, as the seeds ripen 
in them, due to alterations in the texture of their 
walls. They may become uniformly hard, as in the 
Acorn, and in the Hazel-nut, or they may become pulpy 
inside, with a thin, leathery, outer skin, as in the 
Grape; or there may be a thin, tough, or hard onter 
skin, a more or less abundant pulpy middle layer, and 
a hard inner shell, known as the “stone” in stone-fruits 
(see Fig. 799). This change is frequent both in simple 
and in compound or united Ovaries. Such differences in 
structure are best understood with reference to the 
modes of distribution of the seeds. 
The ripe fruit is, in most plants, the Ovary merely 
enlarged, or changed in one or more of the ways indi- 
cated ; but in some plants the receptacle also enlarges, 
either into a fleshy head, as in the Strawberry, or the 
receptacle cup around the Ovary, mentioned above, be- 
comes fleshy, or, in some form or other, becomes a part 
of the fruit. The methods of opening, to allow of the 
escape of the seed, differ greatly in those Ovaries from 
which the seeds escape when ripe; while one-seeded 
carpels, or such as have fleshy walls in the ripe condi- 
tion, usually do not split. The consideration of these 
differences also belong more to the great subject of the 
distribution of the seeds than to the subject immediately 
under notice. Bass 
Fic. 800. OVATE AND OBTUSE LEAF, 
OVATE. The shape of an egg, with the broad end 
downwards. An Ovate and obtuse leaf is shown at 
Fig. 800. 
OVIEDA (of Linnæus). A synonym of Clerodendron 
(which see). 5 
OVIEDA (of Sprengel). A synonym of Lapeyrousia 
(which see). 
OVILLA. A synonym of Jasione. 
OVOID. A solid with an ovate figure, or resembling 
an egg. N 
OVULE. The name given to that body which 
develops into the seed, after it has been acted on by 
the pollen. The Ovules are contained in the Ovary 
(which see) in all flowering plants, except the Coniferous 
trees and shrubs, the Cycads, so commonly grown in 
hot-houses, and a few other mostly tropical plants that 
form the natural order Gnetacew. The ovary in almost 
all Phanerogams is closed, so as to entirely conceal 
the Ovules; but in a few (see erie er it is open 
at the top from a very early peri Rea 
The Orli are attached to the placentæ (see Ovary), 
to which they are fixed by a stalk, or “funiculus.” 
They are usually very small, and are frequently so 
translucent as to allow the microscopic structure to be 
seen, either without special preparation, or, after laying 
them for a little time in some fluid (e.g., weak solution 
of caustic potash), to render them more transparent. 
Others require more elaborate treatment, and must be 
cut open before they are fit to be examined; but to 
enter into details would occupy too much space. The 
description here must, therefore, be restricted to one of 
the more simple forms of Ovules, afterwards pointing 
out in what respects, chiefly, other forms depart from 
this type. The Ovule selected for description is one 
32 
