296 PHYLUM XIV. ANTHOPHYTA 
stem, commonly diclinous (i.e. stamens and pistils in 
separate flowers, monoecious or dioecious) usually sub- 
tended by a colored leaf (spathe). Each flower is like a 
very small lily, but it is very short verti- 
(eS) cally, and relatively thick (‘‘squatty”’). 
oa The short stamens are usually six, and — 
the very short-styled pistil is 3-celled (or 
Fre. 168—Calla 1-celled). ‘The perianth lobes are short, 
mee Potke.°"4 thick and fleshy or wanting. Through- 
out the order (which is largely tropical) 
there is a marked tendency toward fleshiness both as to 
the plant body (always herbaceous) and the flowers. 
538. Palms (Palmales). This order of woody trees 
and coriaceous leaves has small flowers resembling those 
of the Lilies, but with the parts usually harder and more 
parchment-like in texture. In the Coconut the flowers 
are separated (diclinous), one kind having functional 
stamens (staminate), and the other a functional pistil 
(pistillate). The staminate flower has a perianth of two 
ternate whorls, the outer (sepals) shorter than the 
inner (petals). The stamens are six in two whorls, and 
there is a small, tricarpellary functionless pistil. The 
pistillate flower is much larger, and 
has a perianth of two ternate whorls, 
the sepals and petals being similar to NY SD 
each other. There are no stamens. | 
The large pistil is tricarpellary and Life 
should contain a seed in each of the 
carpels, but two seeds are always ™* git he: ioe 
suppressed and their carpellary cavi- 
ties are crushed by the growth of the third large 
seed. The fruit has much the structure of a plum; 
in which the inner part of the ovary wall becomes 
stony (sclerenchyma), while the outer part remains 
