ESSENTIAL FLORAL LEAVES. 93 
an axis upon which numerous stamens are crowded in a spiral 
manner. They are here more flattened and leaf-like than, for 
example, in the buttercup, which is a good example of the hemi- 
cyclic condition. The most typical cyclic flowers possess two 
whorls of stamens (fig. 38)—an outer, alternating with the petals 
(and superposed to the sepals), and an inner, alternating with the 
sepals (and superposed to the petals). As in the case of the 
perianth, five and four are the typical numbers in a whorl for 
dicotyledons, and three for monocotyledons. ‘Ten stamens occur 
in papilionaceous flowers, but the two five-membered whorls are 
here indistinguishably united together. Fuchsia, willow-herb, 
Fig. 45.--Flowers of Scotch Fir [original]. Various scales. A. Group of 
male cones. B. A stamen; ps. pollen sac; /. filament. C. Pollen grain; 
ex. extine; w. wing; 7.c., v.c. cells. D. A female cone. E. An ovule- 
bearing scale; ov. ovule; mp. micropyle. F. A seed. 
and evening primrose possess two whorls of four each, while 
snowdrops, lilies, and rushes have six stamens in two whorls. 
Very frequently one whorl is suppressed, usually the inner one. 
Thus a very large number of dicotyledons are provided with five 
stamens alternating with the petals, as, for example, in parsnip, 
disk florets of daisy, potato, violet, convolvulus, and forget-me- 
not. Others have four similarly placed stamens, as in plantain 
and verbena. Again, in monocotyledons the outer whorl only 
may be present, as in iris, where there are three stamens. Far 
more rarely the outer whorl is suppressed. This is seen in prim- 
rose and its allies, which possess five stamens superposed to the 
lobes of the gamopetalous corolla. That a whorl has been here 
suppressed is proved by the fact that in brookweed or water-pim- 
pernel, a closely allied plant, rudiments of the outer whorl are 
actually present. But reduction may go still farther, and leave 
only part of a whorl. White dead nettle is a case in point. Here 
there are five sepals and five petals, but only four stamens, two 
