OBGANS OF EEPEODUCTION. 273 



of the carpels of which it is composed, as in the Mignonotte 

 {Reseda) (Jig. 607), and Cactus {fig. 617); or by the union of 

 carpels the ovaries of which are only partially folded inwards, 

 so that all their cavities communicate in the centre, and hence 

 such a compound ovary is really unilocular, as in the Orchis 

 {fig. 608), and Poppy {fig. 609). 



Having now described the parts, nature, and structure of the 

 carpel, and of the gyncecium or pistil, we proceed in the next 

 place to allude generally to their constituent parts, namely, the 

 ovary, style, and stigma. 



1. The Ovary. — The ovary, as already mentioned, is called 

 compound when it is composed of two or more ovaries com- 

 bined together ; on the contrary, it is 

 simple when it constitutes the lower part Fig. 610. 



of a simple pistil, or of one of the carpels 

 of an apocarpous pistil. It should be 

 noticed, therefore, that the terms simple 

 pistil, and simple ovary, are not in all 

 cases synonymous terms ; thus, a pistil 

 or gyncecium is only said to be simple 

 {figs. 568 and 589), when it is formed of 

 but one carpel, the terms pistil or gynce- 

 cium and carpel being then mutually 

 convertible ; but an ovary is simple, as 

 Just noticed, whether it forms part of a 

 simple pistil, or of one of the carpels 

 of an apocarpous pistil. 



Generally speaking, the ovary is sessile 

 upon the thalamus, the carpeJlary leaves 

 out of which it is formed having no stalks. -^'^„,^f ' FrnxUidia^^'^T'^e 

 In rare cases, however, the ovary is more ovary is supported on a 

 or less elevated above the outer whorls, Ker'Sr.'"* ''' ''"'^ '" 

 when it is said to be stalked or stipitate, 



as in the Dictamnus {fig. 610, g), and DiantJius {fig. 588, g); 

 this stalk has received the name of gynophore. We shall refer 

 to the g}'nophore again under the head of thalamus. 



The ovary, whether simple or compound, as already noticed, 

 (see page 218), may be either adherent to the calyx, or free 

 from it. In the former case, as in the Myrtle {fig. 446), it is 

 inferior or adherent, and the calyx is superior ; in the latter, as 

 in the Barberry {fig. 570), and Dictamnus {fig. 610), it is supe- 

 rior or free, and the calyx is inferior. In some flowers the ovary 

 is but partially adherent to the calyx, as in the Saxifrage {fig. 

 611), and other plants of the genus to which that plant belongs, in 

 which case it is sometimes termed half-adherent or half-inferior, 

 the calyx being then half-superior ; the latter terms are, how- 

 ever, but rarely used, the ovary being commonly described as 

 inferior, whether its adhesion to the calyx be complete, or only 



T 



