SEX. 11 



The Sexes of Plants. 

 The stamens, as we have seen, bear pow- 

 dery grains o£ pollen in their anthers. This 

 pollen is the male element of the plant, and 

 it must be carried to the pistil before that 

 organ can produce seeds. The stamens are, 

 therefore, the male or sterile organs of the 

 plant, and the pistils are the female or fer- 

 tile organs. The universal doctrine of the 

 sexes of plants was first clearly enunciated 

 by Linnaeus in 1735, and his elegant system 

 of classification was built upon the numbers 

 and characters of the essential or reproduc- 

 tive organs. While this system was so ex- 

 pedient in the arranging and studying of 

 plants, it was also important because it rec- 

 ognized the functions of the stamens and 

 pistils and brought them prominently into 

 the consideration of botanists. The idea of 

 sex in plants did not originate with Linnaeus, 

 however. As early as the days of Herodo- 

 tus, two sorts of date-palms were distin- 

 guished, one sterile and the other fertile, and 

 it was known that the fruitfulness of the fer- 

 tile plant was increased by shaking trusses 

 of the sterile plant over it. Caesalpinus ob- 

 served that some hemp plants were sterile 



