332 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 





FIG. 403. CARROT (Daucus carota). 



Section through epigynous flower. 



ments of the stamens cohere so as 

 to form a tube they are monadel- 

 phous. In the Dandelion (Taraxa- 

 cum officinale) it is the anthers which 

 unite, and the stamens are said to be 

 syngenesious (fig. 400). Lobelia shows 

 both conditions. Stamens which 

 are united into two, three, or more 

 groups are termed di-, tri-, and poly- 

 adelphous respectively. 



Then as to carpels. These may 

 be united in two ways. " If we 

 take a pea-pod, we shall find that it 

 closely resembles a narrow, long- 

 pointed leaf folded down the middle, 

 with the edges in contact. Such is 

 carpel, of course greatly modifying 

 The peas, i.e. the ovules, are always 



really Nature's method of making a 



the leaf for its new purpose (fig. 401), 



produced down the united margins in two rows, i.e. one row on each margin. 



Now suppose we take two or more pea-pods. Place them with their margins 



in contact, and then compress them so that the sides will meet, and imagine 



them to have thus grown in contact. They would then be in a state of 



cohesion, and a cross section through the ovaries would reveal as many 



chambers as there are carpels. That is one way. This is well seen in the 



pistil of the Bluebell (Scilla nutans) [and the Purple Spring Crocus (Croc'&s 



officinalis), fig. 406)]. Another may be illustrated as follows : Take two or 



more pods, but this time crack them open down the margins where the peas 



are (but not down the opposite side) ; half the peas will now be found on 



one margin and half on the other. Now place the open pods in a circle, 



edge to edge, and imagine the 



edges only to become coherent. 



There will thus be one large 



chamber, with as many double 



rows of ovules as there are ^^%- J'M ^^^ 



carpels. The Violet (Viola) %^2^ SSN^flM 



and Mignonette (Reseda lutea) **' 



will illustrate this condition " 



(Hen slow). ^" ^.ddT 



Pistils which are made up ^mr 



of two or more carpels are de- 

 scribed as compound, to dis- 

 tinguish them from simple 

 pistils, which contain only one FIG. 404. BEGONIA. 



Carpel. Yet it mUSt not be Section across syncarpous ovary, showing axial placentation. 



