266 ORGANOGRAPHY. 



name of conducting tissue ; in fact, it seems to be nothing more 

 than an expansion of this tissue externally. It may be either on 

 one side of the style {fgs. 586 and 588), or at its apex {fig. 

 583), or on both sides (Ji^. 584), the position depending upon 

 the point or points where the canal terminatey. Its tissue is 

 usually elongated into papillae {figs. 583-4), hair-like {fig. 585), 

 or feathery processes {fig. 587), or in some cases it_ is smoother 

 and more 'compact. It is never covered by true epidermis. By 

 means of the corresponding conducting tissue of the style it is 

 in direct continuity with the placenta. At the period of fecun- 

 dation, as just noticed, it becomes moistened by a viscid fluid 

 which renders the surface more or less sticky, and thus admirably 

 adapted to retain the pollen, which is thrown upon it in various 

 ways at the time of the dehiscence of the anther. 



The Gtyncecium. — Having now 

 described the parts, nature, and 

 structure of the carpel, we are in 

 a position to examine in a com- 

 prehensive manner the gyncecium 

 or pistil generally, which is made 

 up of one or more of such carpels. 

 When the gyncecium or pistil 

 is formed of but one carpel, as in 

 fVflf. 589. Pistil of iflfftT/ras. o.Ova- the Broom {fig. 568) and Pea 

 ry. c Persistent calyx. On the (fiq. 589), it. is called simple, and 

 topof the ovary IS the style, and }, -^ ^ ' ■ • .m j 



stigma, stig. the terms gyncecium or pistil ana 



carpel are synonymous ; when there 

 is more than one carpel, the pistil or gyncecium is called com- 

 pound {figs. 566 and 567). 



In a compound pistil or gyncecium the carpels may be either 

 separate from one another, as in the Stonecrop {fiig. 566), or 

 united into one body, as in the Primrose {fig. 567), Carnation 

 {fig. 588), and Tobacco {fig. 569); in the former case, the pistil 

 is said to be apocarpous ox dlalycarpoiis, in the latter syncarpous. 



When the pistil is apocarpous, the number of carpels of which 

 it is composed is indicated by a Cfreek numeral prefixed to the 

 termination _^y;^m, which means female, and the flower receives 

 corresponding names accordingly. In a syncarpous pistil also, 

 the number of styles is defined in a similar way. Thus : — 



A flower with One carpel or One style is Monogynous, as in 



Myosotis and Hippuris. 

 ,, „ Two carpels or Two styles is Digynous, as in 



most British Grasses and JDianthus. 

 „ „ Three carpels or Three styles is Trigynous, as 



in Eumex and Silene. 

 ,, „ Four carpels or Four styles is Tetragynous. 

 „ „ Five carpels or Five styles is Pentagynous. 



