PISTIL. 103 



vary in their form ; some are long and slender, as in the pink ; 

 others are short and thick, as in the tulip. They are usually 

 smooth, but in the mullein they are bearded ; in the spider- wort, 

 (Tradescantia,) they are covered with down. In most cases a 

 filament supports but one anther, but sometimes it is forked and 

 bears two or more ; in some instances, many filaments have 

 but one anther. When the filaments are enclosed in the tube 

 of the corolla they are said to be inserted, when they extend 

 out of it, exserled. In some cases the filament is wanting, and 

 the anther is sessile, or immediately attached to the corolla. 



In double flowers, the stamens, which seem to be intimately 

 connected with the parts of the corolla, are changed to petals. 

 Thisns the effect of cultivation, which by affording the stamens 

 excess of nourishment, causes them to swell out, and thus as- 

 sume the form of petals. In some double flowers almost every 

 trace of the stamens disappears ; in others, it is very easy to 

 perceive the metamorphosis which they have undergone, as 

 they retain something of their original form. The anthers usu- 

 ally disappear, which shows that the filaments have absorbed all 

 the nourishment. In many double flowers, roses especially, we 

 can see the change as it takes place, some stamens entirely 

 changed, others retaining something of their form, and others 

 still perfect. When all the stamens disappear, no perfect fruit 

 is produced. On account of this degeneration of the stamens, 

 cultivated flowers are not usually so good for botanical analysis, 

 as wild ones. The single flower exhibits the number of parts 

 which nature has given to it. The rose in its native state has 

 but five petals. 



Anther, is a little knob or box usually situated on the sum- 

 mit of the filament ; it has cells or cavities which contain a pow. 

 der called the pollen ; this is yellow, and very conspicuous in 

 the lily and tulip. You have here the representation (Fig. 60) 

 of a stamen with its filament (a), 

 its anther (&), and the discharging 

 pollen (c). In many flowers you 

 will perceive the filament to be want- 

 ing ; the anthers are then said to be 

 'sessile ; that is, placed immediately 

 upon the corolla ; as at (d), which 

 represents a flower cut open, and its 

 five stamens growing sessile in the 

 throat. 



Pistil^ 



In the centre of the flower stands the pistil, an organ essen- 

 tial to the plant. Like the stamens, the pistils vary in number 



Stamens changed to petals Anther Pistil, situation and number. 



