78 BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS. [Ch XI II 



change. You would scarcely believe that the PumpKin is but 

 the germ of the small yellow flower of the plant. 



319. Style. This, like the filament, is sometimes wanting; 

 when present, it proceeds from the germ, and bears the stigma 

 on its summit. It is usually long and slender, of a cylindrical 

 form, consisting of bundles of fibres, which transmit the fertil- 

 izing pollen from the stigma to the erm. 



320. Stigw.a. This word signifies perfecting. The stigma 

 is the top of the pistil, and always present ; if the style be 

 wanting, it is placed upon the germ, and said to be sessile, as 

 in the Tulip and Poppy. The stigma is various in size and 

 form ; sometimes it is a round head ; sometimes hollow and 

 gaping, more especially when the flower is in its highest perfec- 

 tion ; it is generally downy, and always more or less moist with 

 a peculiar, glutinous fluid. 



Use of the Stamens and Pistils. 



321. We will now consider the use of the stamens and pis- 

 tils, those organs so important, that without them no plant 

 would produce fruit. 



322. The pollen of the stamens, when the flower becomes 

 mature, being thrown from the anther by the opening of its lids, 

 falls upon the stigma, or top of the pistil, and passes through 

 the style to the germ. In the germ are little seeds beginning 

 to form, but which would never come to maturity without the 

 agency of the pollen. You see now the wonderful contrivance 

 by which the races of plants are preserved. 



323. The real use of stamens and pistils was long a subject 

 of dispute among philosophers, till Linnaeus explained it beyond 

 a possibility of doubt. These organs have, from the most re- 

 mote antiquity, been considered of great importance in perfect- 

 ing the fruit. The Date Palm, which was cultivated by the 

 ancients, bears stamens and pistils on separate trees ; the Greeks 

 discovered that in order to have good fruit, it was necessary to 

 plant the two kinds of trees near each other, and that without 

 this assistance the dates had no kernel, and were not good for 

 food. 



321. Although the fertilization of plants, where the stamens 



H19. Describe the stj ic. 



3-20. What is the stigma 1 



*>*2I. What is said of the importance of the stamens and pistils 1 



3 % 2*2. Give an account of the manner in which the seeds in the germ 

 are fertilized. 



3-23. What, did the Greeks discover nth respect to the date-palm ? 



3J4. What are <ome ol the vanou? modes lu w lA ^:: "<me '^nveys 

 poL^n to the pi>'.illaip piano ? 



