XU . INTRODUCTION. 



involucre, tliej liave "been iermed a caJycitle, and the calyx or inyoliicre said to be ccdy- 

 adate, but these terms are now falUng into disuse, as conveying a false impression, 



81. A Sjjcdha is a bract or floral leaf enclosuig the inflorescence of some Monocoty- 

 ledons. 



82. Falea?^ Pales, or Chajf, are the inner bracts or scales in Composii^j Grammea^ 

 and some other plants, when of a thin yet stiff consistence, usually narrow and of a 

 palo colour, 



83. Glumes are the bracts enclosing tlie flowers of Ci/peracecB and Graininea, 



8. The Flower in General. 



84. A complete Flower (15) is one in which the calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils 

 arc all present ; ?i perfect flower, one in which all these organs, or such of them as are 

 present, are capable of perfornang their several functions. Therefore, properly speak- 

 ing, an incomplete flower is one in which any one or more of these organs is wanting ; 

 and an imperfect flower, one in which any one or more of these organs is so altered as 

 to be incapable of properly performing its functions. These imperfect organs are said 

 to be ahortive if much reduced in size or efficiency, "iiidimentary it so much so as to 

 be scarcely perceptible, Eut, in many works, the term incomplete is specially applied 

 to those flowers in which the perianth is simple or wanting, and imperfect to those in 

 which either the stamens or pistil are imperfect or wanting. 



85. A Plower is 

 dichlam,tjdeouSj when the perianth is double, both calyx and corolla being present 



and distinct. 



monochl amy d eons, when tlie perianth is single^ whether by the union of the calyx 

 and corolla, or the deficiency of either. 



asepalotis^ when there is no calyx. 



apetaloiis, when there is aio corolla, 



naked, when there is no perianth at all. 



hermaphrodite or hisexnal, when both stamens and pistil are present and perfect. 



male or stamlnaie^ when there are one or more stamens, but either no pistil at all 

 or an imperfect one. 



female or pistillate^ when there is a pistil, but either no stamens at all, or only 

 imperfect ones. 



neuter^ wlien both ptamcns and pistil arc imperfect or wanting. 

 barren or sterile^ when from any cause it produces no seed. 



fertile, when it does produce seed. In some works the terms harren, fertile, and 

 perfect are also used respectively as synonyms of male, female^ and hermaphrodite. 



86. The flowers of a plant or species are said collectively to he unisexual ot diclinous 

 when the flowers are all either male or female, 



monoecious, when the male and female flowers are distinct, but on the same plant* 

 dioecious, when the male and female flowers are on distinct plants. 

 polygamous, when there are male, female, and hermaphrodite flowers on the same 

 or on distinct plants, 



87. A head of flowers is helerogamons when male, female, hermaphrodite, and neuter 

 flowers, or any two or three of tliem, are included in one head ; komogamous^ when all 

 the flowers hicludcd in one liead arc alike in this respect. A spike or head of flowers 

 is androggnom when male and female flowers arc mixed in it. These terms are only 

 used in the case of very few ^Xatural Orders, 



88. As the scales of buds are leaves undeveloped or reduced in size and altered in 

 shape and consistence, and bracts are leaves likewise reduced in size, and occasionally 

 altered in colour ; so the parts of the floM-er are considered as leaves still further aUered 

 in shape, eolour, and arrangement round the axis, and often more or leas combined with 

 each other. The details of this theory constitute the comparatively modern branch of 

 botany called Vegetable Metamorphosis^ or JlomoloQu, sometimes iiuuroueilY termed 

 Morphologg (S). ^ l ^ 



89. To understand the arrangement of the floral parts, let us take a complete flower, 

 in which moreover all the parts are free from each other, (Ze/rni7e in number, f.€. always 



the same in the same species, and sgmmetrkal or isomerous^ i, e, when each whorl con- 

 sists of the same number of parts. 



