158 



Elementary Biology. 



however, that the flower is much depressed, the diameter 

 (short axis) of the cone being as great if not greater than 

 the length (long axis). The examination of the flower of the 



FIG. 76.-CRVSTAU, ( A) Sac%s;n, Thome.) ^ter-lily, Or of MyO- 



sums, close allies of the 

 buttercup, exhibits to us 

 a condition of things 

 where even the external 

 likeness between the 

 flower and the fir cone 

 is unmistakable. The 

 sporophylla are much 

 reduced in number in 

 Lilium ; and further ex- 

 amination proves to us 

 that that number is defi- 

 nite and constant for 

 the whole group to 

 which the lily belongs. 

 We find that there are 

 nine fertile sporophylla 

 in all, six of which are male and three 

 female. Surrounding the fertile sporo- 

 phylla are six barren leaves, which differ 

 from the ordinary foliage leaves in being 

 coloured yellow, blue, red, or some other 

 hue. These leaves form together what 

 is known as the perianth. They are 

 arranged in two whorls, the outer being 

 crystals of calcic oxa- termed the calyx, the inner the corolla. 

 !&TJ5SBd5 <rte leaves composing the calyx and 

 bom AM retusa. coro lla go by the name of sepals and 

 petals respectively. The sepaline and petaline leaves differ 

 in several points from the ordinary foliage leaves. In the 

 first place they are coloured, but not green. An exception 

 to this occurs in the sepaline whorl, where the outer surface 



