ESSENTIAL ORGANS. STAMENS. 199 



the Misletoe, the anther has numerous pores for the discharge of the 

 pollen. Another mode of dehiscence is called hinged. In the Barberry, 

 each lobe opens by a valve on the outer side of the suture, separately 

 rolling up from base to apex ; while in some of the Laurel tribe (fig. 

 325 t>), there are two such separating valves for each lobe, or four 

 in all. This may be called a combination of transverse and hinged 

 dehiscence. In some Guttiferge, as Hebradendron cambogioides (the 

 Gamboge plant), the anther opens by a lid separating from the apex, 

 or by what is called circumsctssile (circum, around, and scindo, to cut) 

 dehiscence. In the last-mentioned dehiscence, the anther may be 

 considered as formed of jointed leaves like those of the Orange, the 

 blades of which separate at the joint. 



412. The anthers open at various periods of flowering; sometimes 

 in the bud, but more commonly when the pistil is fully developed, and 

 the flower is expanded. They either open simultaneously or in suc- 

 cession. In the latter case, individual stamens may move towards the 

 pistil and discharge their contents, as in Parnassia palustris, or the 

 outer or the inner stamens may open first, following thus a centri- 

 petal or centrifugal order. The anthers are called introrse (introrsum, 

 inwardly), or anticce (anticus, the fore part), when 



they open on the surface next to the centre of the flower 

 (fig. 345); they are extrorse (outwardly), or posticce 

 (posticus, behind), when they open on the outer surface ; 

 when they open on the sides, as in Iris, and some 

 grasses, they are called laterally dehiscent (fig. 337). 

 Sometimes anthers originally introrse, from their versa- 

 tile nature, become extrorse, as in the Passion-flower 

 and Oxalis. The attachment of the filament either on 

 the outer or inner side, and the position of the anther 

 in the young state, assist in determining the direction 

 of the dehiscence when the anthers open by pores, or are versatile. 



413. The usual colour of anthers is yellow, but they present a great 

 variety in this respect. They are red in the Peach, dark purple in the 

 Poppy and Tulip, orange in Eschscholtzia, &c. The colour and appear- 

 ance of the anthers often change after they have discharged their 

 functions. 



414. Sometimes a flower consists of a single stamen, as already 

 stated in regard to Euphorbia (^[ 401). It is said also, that in the 

 Coniferge, as in the Fir, and in the Cycadacese, the stamens are to be 

 regarded as single male flowers, supported on scales ; being either a 

 single stamen with bilocular anthers, as in Pinus, or uniloctdar, as in 

 Abies, or several stamens united in an androphore, as in Taxus. 



Fig. 345. Tetradynamous stamens (two long and two short) of Cheiranthus Cheiri. p, Top 

 of the peduncle, c, Cicatrices left by the sepals of calyx which have been removed, e g, Two 

 pairs of long stamens, e p, The short stamens, t, Torus or thalamus to which the stamens are 

 attached. 



