IX 
contained,—these latter, called in their immature state the ovules, 
being attached to the adherent margins of the folded leaf (Fig. 6). 
The vessel thus formed is denominated a carpel; the line of ad¬ 
hesion is termed the ventral suture, that opposite to it, representing 
the midrib of the leaf, the dorsal suture. In many flowers two or 
more carpels are united, the edges of each carpel-leaf being curved 
inwards, forming divisions more or less complete, called dissepi¬ 
ments (Fig. 7). In every case the ovules are attached to the ovary 
by means of a substance called the placenta, formed partly of a 
prolongation of the vessels of the leaf, partly of cellular tissue 
connected with that of the style; by the former they receive their 
nourishment, while through the latter their fertilization is ac¬ 
complished. When these placentas all meet in the centre, forming 
with the dissepiments a perfect division between the carpels, the 
ovary becomes, of course, two- or many-celled; the united placentas 
are then said to be central or axile (Fig. 8). When they form by 
their junction a distinct column in the middle of the cavity, they 
are styled free and central (Fig. 9); when they appear as mere 
projections from the sides of the vessel, they are called parietal, 
as in the Poppy (Fig. 10). The ovules are attached to the placenta 
by means of a small appendage of that organ, to which the name 
of funiculus is given. 
The ovary is sometimes adherent to the tubular portion of the 
calyx, so as to appear below the teeth or sepals of the latter; it is 
then termed inferior, the calyx being superior (Fig. 11). When 
free in the middle of the flower, it is called superior, the calyx 
becoming infendor (Fig. 12). 
In the Coniferse or Fir tribe and a few other plants there is no 
ovary,—the ovules being produced without any covering, in the axils 
of the modified bracts or leaves which form the cone, or covered 
only by those leaves converted into a fleshy substance as in the 
so-called berries of the Juniper and Yew. 
In some plants the ovaries and the stamens are contained in 
c 
