90 



FLOWERS. 



[SECTION 8. 



Connate is a term common for either not free or not distinct, that is, for 

 parts united congenitally, whether of same or of different kinds. 

 Adnate, as properly used, relates to the union of dissimilar parts. 



272. In still another form of ex- 

 pression, the terms superior and 

 inferior have been much used in 

 the sense of above and below. 



Superior is said of the ovary of 

 Flax-flower, Cherry, etc., because 

 above the other parts; it is equiv- 

 alent to "ovary free." Or it is 

 said of the calyx, etc., when above 

 the ovary, as in Fig. 273-275. 



Inferior, when applied to the 

 ovary, means the same as "calyx 

 aduate ; " when applied to the flo- 

 ral envelopes, it means that they 

 are free. 



273. Position of Flower or 

 of its Parts. The terms superior 

 and inferior, or upper and lower, 

 are also used to indicate the relative 

 position of the parts of a flower in 

 reference to the axis of inflores- 

 cence. An axillary flower stands between the bract or leaf which sub- 

 tends it and the axis or stem which bears this bract 



or leaf. This is represented in 

 sectional diagrams (as in Fig. 275, 

 276) by a transverse line for the 

 bract, and a small circle for the axis 

 of inflorescence. Now the side of 

 the blossom which faces the bract 

 is the 



Anterior, or Inferior, or Lower side ; 

 while the side next the axis is the 

 Posterior, or Superior, or Upper side of the flower. 

 274. So, in the labiate corolla (Fig. 256-258), the lip which is composed 

 of three of the five petals is the anterior, or inferior, or lower lip; the other 

 is the posterior, or superior, or upper lip. 



275 



Fig. 273. Hawthorn-blossom in section ; parts adnate to whole face of ovaTy, 

 and with each other beyond; another grade of perigynous. 



Fig. 274. Cranberry-blossom in section ; parts epigynous. 



Fig. 275. Diagram of papilionaceous flower (Robinia, Fig. 261), with bract be- 

 low; axis of inflorescence above. 



Fio. 276. Diagram of Violet-flower ; showing the relation of parts to bract and 

 axis. 



