NATURE OF THE CARPEL. 269 
a hollow portion or ovary, in which the ovules soon make their 
appearance. This gradual transition of little leafy organs into 
carpels may be well seen in the Flowering Rush. 
Fic. 589. Fic. 590. 
Fig. 587. Fie. 588. 
\ 
Figs. 587-589. Carpellary leaves from the double flowers of the Cherry-tree 
in different stages of development. 7. Lamina. p. Midrib. s. Prolonged 
portion corresponding to the style and stigma of a perfectly formed 
carpel.— Fig. 590. Carpel from the single flower of the Cherry. 0. Ovary. 
t. Style. s. Stigma. 
We have thus in the first place shown that carpels become 
sometimes transformed into leaves, or into organs intermediate 
in their characters between carpels and leaves, in the flowers of 
cultivated plants; and secondly, that they make their first 
Rre.o0 1: Fie. 592. Fie. 593. 
car 
Fig. 591. Young flower-bud of the Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus). 
The carpels, car, are still concave on the inside, and resemble small leaves. 
— Fig. 592. The carpels in a more advanced state, but the folded mar- 
gins still separated by a slit.——Fig. 593. The same carpels in a perfect 
condition. 
appearance in the form of little organs resembling leaves ; and 
in both ways, therefore, we have proofs afforded us of their leaf- 
like nature. 
Structure of the Carpel.—The ovary being the homologue of 
- the blade of the leaf, it presents, as might have been expected, 
