272 RESEDACE^. [part ii. 



size, which may be bought for 125. at the 

 Bazaars, will be quite sufficient for the purpose. 

 It will then be found that the fleshy part of the 

 petal is as easily detached from the rest of the 

 flower as petals usually are, but that it is so 

 firmly fixed to the crest as to be inseparable 

 without cutting. The disk is, however, dilated 

 and curiously drawn out between the stamens 

 which are inserted in its base, and the petals, 

 as though to form a barrier between them. It 

 will be quite visible when the petals are removed, 

 as it is as firmly attached to the stalk of the 

 flower as the petals are to their crests. Be- 

 tween this elevated part of the disk and the 

 calyx is a green substance which looks like a 

 part of the stalk, but which belongs to the disk. 

 There are twelve stamens, with large orange- 

 coloured anthers, which are at first erect, but 

 afterwards bend forward horizontally ; and in 

 the middle of the stamens is the ovary, an 

 oblong hollow cell, with a three-lobed stigma, 

 forming three erect points. Inside the ovary 

 from each stigma runs the kind of nerve called 

 the placenta, and to each nerve are attached 

 three row^s of seeds. The substance of the 

 ovary is always soft and leaf-like, even when it 

 becomes a ripe capsule ; and though it is greatly 

 swelled out and bladdery, it retains the same 

 leaf-like and somewhat wrinkled appearance to 



