32 AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 
Stigma. The germen, style, and stigma to- 
gether form the Pistil, These parts vary 
much in various specimens, in form and size, 
as well as number. Sometimes there is no 
stigma; sometimes the style is wanting. 
Stamens consist of two parts—the Filament, 
or thread-like stalk, and the Anther which is 
attached to it, and which contains a fertilizing 
dust called Pollen. Under the microscope this 
Pollen-dust exhibits great variety of form in 
different plants. Sometimes the Anther is 
sessile, having no filament. 
The stamens and pistils of a flower are 
called the parts of fructification, and are neces- 
sary, in most plants, to the production of seed. 
But there is one large family, the Cryptogamic 
Plants, to which belong Mosses, Ferns, and 
their allies, in which these parts are, as the 
name implies, invisible, the fact being that they 
are substituted by other natural provisions for 
reproduction, which we shall in due time 
notice. Meantime the careful noticing of the 
endless variety of form and arrangement of the 
various parts of flowers will be an instructive 
process, 
The calyx is sometimes wanting; sometimes 
