ELEMENTS OF BOTANY. XV 



75. A Pistil consists of three parts, — the Ovary, the Style, and the Stigma. 



76. The Ovary is the lower and hollow portion, containing the Ovules, or ru- 

 diments of seeds. 



77. The Style is an extension of the ovary, commonly of its apex, which sup- 

 ports the stigma. 



78. The Stigma is commonly the apex of the style, or, when this is wanting, 

 of the ovary, denuded of the epidermis. 



79. When the pistil is composed of a single piece, or carpel, it is simple; hut, 

 oftener, it is compound, consisting of two or more carpels, united hy their margins, 

 or hy their sides, which then form partitions or dissepiments, that divide the pistil 

 into as many cells as there are carpels. 



80. The line next the axis, or which corresponds to the united margins of a 

 folded leaf, is called the Ventral Suture; and that which corresponds to the mid- 

 rib, the Dorsal Suture. 



81. The Ventral Suture hears the ovules; and the line of their attachment is 

 called the Placenta. This is central or axile, when it occupies the centre of the 

 pistil, and parietal, when it is borne on its walls. 



82. The Ovule is connected with the placenta by a cord, called the Funiculus. 

 It consists of a central body, called the Nucleus, enclosed in two sacs, each with 

 an opening at the apex, called the Foramen. The outer sac is termed the Primine, 

 and the inner one the Secundine. The point where these parts unite is called the 

 Chalaza. 



83. The Ovule is orthotropous when the chalaza is next the placenta, and the 

 apex at the opposite extremity ; campi/htropous, when it curves on itself, so as to 

 bring the apex near the chalaza ; anatropous, when it is inverted on its cord, to 

 which it adheres ; the true apex pointing to the placenta, while the chalaza, or 

 true base, points in an opposite direction ; and amphitropous, when it is half in- 

 verted on its cord, its axis running parallel with the placenta. The adhering 

 portion of the cord in the last two cases is termed the Raphe. 



9. The Fruit. 



84. The Fruit is the ovary, with its contents, brought to maturity. But dur- 

 ing this process it sometimes undergoes important changes, either by the obliter- 

 ation or abortion of some of its cells, partitions, or ovules, or by the formation of 

 false partitions, or by various changes effected in its walls, or in the parts which 

 6urround them. 



85. In some, the walls, or Pericarp, remain closed ; in others, they open, or 

 are dehiscent in various ways, oftener splitting regularly into separate pieces, 

 called Valves. 



86. Many terms are employed to designate the different kinds of fruit, but only 

 the following are in general use. 



87. A Follicle is a simple fruit, opening along the ventral suture only; as the 

 fruit of the Milkweed. 



88. A Legume is a simple, fruit opening at both sutures ; as in the Pulse Fam- 

 ily. When it is divided across into closed joints, it is a Loment. 



89. A Capsule is a dry compound fruit, opening in various ways. When it 

 opens at the dorsal sutures, or into the cells, the dehiscence is said to be loculicidal; 



