CALYX. 



91 



kinds. A good example of the perianth calyx is presented in 

 the rose where it is Mr?i-form, with divisions at the top resem- 

 bling small leaves. In the pink, the perianth is long and tubu- 

 lar, having the border dentate or toothed. The holly. hock, hi- 

 biscus, and many other plants have a double perianth. The 

 general remarks which were made upon the calyx may be con- 

 sidered as chiefly applicable to the perianth. 



Involucrum. This term is derived from the Latin, involve, 

 to wrap up ; this kind of calyx is usually found at the base of 

 an umbel, as in the carrot. It is said to be universal, when it 

 belongs equally to the whole of an aggregate flower ; and par- 

 tial when it encloses one floret, which, with others, constitutes 

 a compound or aggregate flower. The term involucrum is al- 

 so applied to the membranous covering in the fructification of 

 ferns. 



Ament or catkin. Is a kind of calyx, by some classed as a 

 mode of inflorescence ; it consists of many chaffy scales, ranged 

 along a thread-like stalk or receptacle ; each scale protects ono 

 or more of the stamens or pistils, the whole forming one ag- 

 gregate flower. The Ament is common in forests trees ; as in 

 the oak and chesnut ; and is also found in the willow and pop- 

 lar. In some trees, the staminate flowers are enclosed in an 

 ament, and the pistillate in a perianth. 



Spatha, signifies a sheath. It is that kind of calyx which 

 first encloses the flower, and when it expands, bursts lengthwise 

 and often appears at some distance below it. The wild turnip 

 or ARUM, furnishes an example of this kind of calyx, enclosing 

 a kind of inflorescence called a spadix. From the peculiar ap- 

 pearance of the spadix, as- it stands up surrounded by the spa- 

 tha, it is sometimes called Jack in the pulpit. The spatha is 



common in many of our 

 cultivated exotics, as in tho 

 daffodil (NARCISSUS) where 

 it appears brownish and 

 withered, after the full ex- 

 pansion of the flower. 

 You see here a representa- 

 tion (Fig. 47), of the spa- 

 tha of the arum (&), and of 

 the Narsissus (c). In the 

 EgyptianLily, the spatha is 

 white and 4 permanent and 

 the stamens and pistils grow 

 separately upon the spadix. 



Fig. 47. 



Involucrum Ament Spatha 



