62 



Commercial Gardening 



one anotner, or united in one, two, or more bundles, these various con- 

 ditions being indicated by special names in the textbooks, which may be 



consulted where necessary. 

 They may also be seated 

 on various parts of the 

 flower, and the distinc- 

 tions are very valuable in 

 systematic botany. 



4. The Pistil This in- 

 cludes all the organs in the 

 centre of the flower, and 

 being the female parts of 

 the same, are as essential 

 to it as the stamens. Tak- 

 ing the White Lily as an 

 example, the lower, inflated 

 portion is named the 

 ovary, the long stalk on 

 the top of it the style, and 

 the knob on the apex of 

 that the stigma. If the 

 ovary be cut across, it will 

 be seen to have three cells 

 filled with numerous ovules 

 or young unfertilized seeds. 

 The three cells are an in- 

 dication that the pistil con- 

 sists of three carpels or 

 modified leaves closely 

 united. The pistil of the 

 Buttercup, Potentilla, and 

 Strawberry (fig. 51) con- 

 sists of numerous carpels, 



all free from one another, and popularly termed seeds, but each consists 



of an ovary, style, and stigma. The 

 Barberry, Pea, and Peach have a pistil 

 consisting of one carpel in each flower. 

 The number of carpels that go to the 

 composition of the pistil of the Poppy 

 may be determined by the number of 

 rays to the stigma and the incomplete 

 partitions that project into the in- 

 terior of the ovary. This may be 

 done in the Mallow, Carnation, and 



Carrot by counting the number of styles, and in Geranium, Pelargonium, 

 Mint, and Salvia by counting the number of stigmas. 



Fig. 50. Pollen Grains highly magnified 



1, Cobcea scandens. 2, Pinus Pumiiio. 3, Passiflora kermexina. 

 4, Cirecea alpina. 5, Nymphcea alba. 6, Epilobiuin august if olium. 

 7, Cucurbita Pepo. 8, Hibiscus ternatus. 



Fig. 51. Strawberry with Section, showing 

 thickened receptacle bearing the true fruits or 

 pips on the surface 



