CHAP. ir. STAMENS. 145 



Next the petals, in the inside, are seated the organs called 

 Stamens — the Apices of old botanists. These constitute the 

 Andrceceum or male apparatus of the flower, like the calyx and 

 corolla are modifications of leaves, and consist of the Jilament, 

 the anther, and the pollen, of which the two latter are essential : 

 the first is not essential ; that is to say, a stamen may exist 

 without a filament, but it cannot exist without an anther and 

 pollen. All bodies, therefore, which resemble stamens, or 

 which occupy their place, but which are destitute of anther, 

 are either petals, or appendages of the petals, or abortive 

 stamens. 



As the petals are naturally alternate with the sepals, so the 

 natural station of the stamens, if of equal number with the 

 petals, is alternately with them ; and ail deviations from this 

 law are to be understood as irregularities arising from the 

 suppression or addition of parts. Thus, when in the Primrose 

 we find the stamens opposite the segments of the corolla, 

 and equal to them in number, it is to be supposed that those 

 stamens which are present constitute the second of two rows 

 of which the exterior is not developed ; and when in Silene 

 we find the stamens ten, while the petals are five, the former 

 are to be considered to consist of two rows, although appear- 

 ing to consist of one. This may be understood by examining 

 Oxalis, in which the stamens are all apparently in one row, 

 but are alternately of different lengths. When the number 

 of Stamens exceeds twice that of the petals, they will still 

 be divisible by the number of which they were at first a 

 multiple, until their number is excessively increased, when 

 they seem to cease to bear any kind of proportion to the 

 petals. 



The stamens always originate from the space between the 

 base of the petals and the base of the ovary. But botanists 

 are nevertheless in the habit of saying that they are inserted 

 into the cal}^ or corolla {_^ff. 120.) {j)erigynous), or under the 

 pistil (Jig.W'd.) {liypogynous), or into the pistil (Jig. 119.) 

 {epigynous), all expressions inaccurate and leading to erroneous 

 notions of structure. The student, therefore, must understand, 

 that when in the Primrose the stamens are said to be inserted 



