GREAT WILLOW-HERB. 



33 



which arise from the axils of bracts are said to be axillary, 

 whilst those which are at the ends of stems are called 

 terminal, and you may remember that flowers can only be 

 produced in the axils of leaves and at the ends of stems 

 and branches. 



45. Coming to the flower itself, direct your attention, 

 first of all, to the position of the ovary. You will find it 

 apparently under the flower, in the form of a tube tinged 

 with purple. It is not in reality under the flower, because 

 its purplish covering is the calyx, or, more accurately, the 

 calyx-tube, which adheres to the whole surface of the 

 ovary, and expands above into four long teeth. The ovary, 

 therefore, is inferior, and the calyx, of course, superior, in 

 this flower. As the sepals unite below to form the tube 

 the calyx is gamosepalous. 



The corolla consists of four petals, free from each other, 

 and is consequently polypetalous. It is also regular, the 

 . y v petals being alike in size and 



shape. Each petal is narrowed 

 ' at the base into what is called 

 the daw of the petal, the broad 

 part, as in the ordinary foliage- 

 leaf, being the blade. The 

 stamens are eight in number 

 (octandrous), four short and 

 four long, and are attached to 

 the calyx (perigynous). 



46. The pistil has its three 

 Fig. 41. parts ovary, style,and stigma 



very distinctly marked. The stigma consists of four long 

 lobes, which curl outwards after the flower opens. The 



FijT. 41. Ripened pistil of Willow-herb. Fig. 42. Cross section of the same. 



