190 ESSENTIAL ORGANS. STAMENS. 



the filament and the anther. The filaments of Callitriche verna are 

 said to have no vessels. The filament is usually, as its name imports, 

 filiform or thread-like, cylindrical, or slightly tapering towards its 

 summit. It is often, however, thickened, compressed, and flattened 

 in various ways. It sometimes assumes the appearance of a petal, or 

 becomes petaloid (7rsTKov, a leaf or petal, and g<oj, form), as in Canna, 

 Maranta, Nymphasa alba (fig. 310, 2); occasionally it is subulate 

 (subula, an awl), or slightly broadened at the base, and drawn out into 

 a point like an awl, as in Butomus umbellatus; and at 

 other times it is clavate (clava, a club), or narrow below 

 and broad above, like the club of Hercules, as in Thalic- 

 trmn. In place of tapering, it happens, in some in- 

 stances, as in Tamarix gallica (fig. 311), Peganum 

 Harmala, and Campanula, that the base of the filament 

 is dilated much, and ends suddenly in a narrow thread- 

 like portion. In these cases, the base may represent 

 the sheath or vagina of the petiole, and, like it, may 

 give off stipulary processes in a lateral direction. Some- 

 times the filament is forked, or divided at the apex into 

 branches or teeth. In Allium there are three teeth, the central one 

 of which bears the anther. 



397. The filament varies much in length and in firmness. The 

 length bears a relation to that of the pistil, and to the position of the 

 flower, whether erect or drooping; the object being to bring the an- 

 ther into more or less immediate contact with the upper part of the 

 pistil, so as to allow the pollen to be scattered on it. The filament is 

 usually of sufficient solidity to support the anther in an erect position; 

 but sometimes, as in Grasses, Littorella, and Plantago, it is very deli- 

 cate and capillary (capillus, a hair), or hair-like, so that the anther is 

 pendulous. The filament is usually continuous from one end to the 

 other, but in some cases it is bent or jointed, becoming geniculate 

 (genu, a knee); at other times, as in the Pellitory, it is spiral. It is 

 frequently colourless ; but, in many instances, it exhibits different 

 colours. In Fuchsia and Poinciana, it is red; in Adamia and Trades- 

 cantia virginica, blue; in (Enothera and Eanunculus acris, yellow. 



398. Hairs, scales, teeth, or processes of different kinds are some- 

 times developed on the filament. In Tradescantia virginica, or Spider- 

 wort, the hairs are beautifully coloured, and moniliform (monile, a 

 necklace) or necklace-like. These hairs exhibit movements of rotation 

 (IF 278). Such a filament is bearded or stupose (stiipa, tow). At the 

 base of the filament, certain glandular or scaly appendages are occa- 

 sionally produced, either on its internal or external surface. These 

 may be either parts of a whorl, to be afterwards noticed under the 



Fig, 311. Three out of the ten stamens of Tamarix gallica, united together by the dilated 

 basc-s of their filaments. 



