STAMENS. 



Fig. 82. 



of a scale ; in the violet, a process pf the same, in the form of a horn or spnr ; in 

 the columbine, in the form of a horn. In the monk's-hood, f)ne of the petal:* beinsj; 

 concave, conceals tlie nectaries ; tliey are therefore said to be Jioodcd. In the 

 honeysuckle, we find at the bottom of the tube a nectariferous liquid ; yet there 

 is no appearance of any gland or organ by which it 

 could have been secreted, unless we suppose the tube 

 to have performed this office. With respect to the pur 

 pose for which honey is secreted by the nectary and 

 other parts of the flower, there seems, among authors, 

 to be a difference of opinion. Darwin supposes this to 

 be the food with which the stamens and pistils are 

 nourished. Smith asserts, that the only use of honey 

 with respect to the plant, is to tempt insects, which, in 

 procuring it, scatter the dust of the anthers, and fertilize 

 the flower, and even carry the pollen from the barren to 

 the fertile blossoms ; this is particularly the case in the 

 fig-tree. Although in the case of plants whose stamens 

 and pistils are on separate flowers, we see this advan- 

 tage arising from the fact of insects being attracted by 

 the honey, yet the greater number of plants do not need any assistance in convey- 

 ing pollen to the stigmas. Some imagine that honey contributes to the perfection 

 of the stamens : but plants that do not appear to secrete honey have perfect sta- 

 mens. One thing, however, is certain with respect to this fluid, that without det- 

 riment to the plant, it yields to the industrious bee the material for the manufiic- 

 ture of honey, a luxury highly valued from the most ancient times. Virgil knew 

 that bees made honey from the juices which they gathered from flowers ; and we, 

 indeed, on this subject, know but little more than he has beautifully expressed in 

 his pastorals. 



LECTUKE XIII. 



STAMENS AND PISTILS. 



Y6. The stamens and pistils are^ in all Phcnogamous plants^ 

 indispensable to the perfection of the fruit. They are, m most 

 plants, inclosed by the same envelope, or stand on the same 

 receptacle ; in the class Moncecia, tlicy are on different flowers 

 which spring from one common root / and in Dicecia, they are 

 on different floioers.) springing fro'in different roots. Yet, how- 

 ever distant the stamens and pistils may be, nature provides 

 ways by which the pollen from the staminate flowers is con- 

 veyed to the pistillate, to assist in perfecting the seed. A stamsn 

 usually consists of two parts, but the filament, or stalk which 

 supports the anther, is no more essential to a stamen than a 

 petiole is to a leaf. If the stamens be fewer than the pieces, 

 either of the calyx or corolla, this is a proof that the true or 

 normal number is either abortive or transformed ; if they are 



Different forms of nectaries — Opinions of different writers respecting the secretion of iioney. — 76. St» 

 mens and pistils necessary to the perfection of the fruit — a. Facts respecting the stamen. 



