CHAP. II. OVARY. 1(53 



ultimately becomes the fruit ; and consequently, whatever may 

 be the structure of the ovary, such must necessarily be that of 

 the fruit : allowance being made, as will hereafter be ex- 

 plained, for changes that may occur during the progress of the 

 ovary to maturity. 



Notwithstanding what has been stated of the pistil con- 

 stantly occupying the centre of the flower, and being the part 

 around which all the other parts are arranged, an apparent 

 exception exists in those flowers the calyx of which is said to 

 be superior (Plate V. fig. 7. & 9.), as the Apple blossom. In 

 this instance the ovary seems to originate below the calyx, 

 corolla, and male system ; on which account it is said to be 

 inferior in such cases, while in the opposite state it is called 

 superior. But in reality, the inferior ovary is only so in con- 

 sequence of the tube of the calyx contracting an adhesion with 

 its sides ; and such being the case, the exactness of the descrip- 

 tion of the constant place of the pistillum as above is unshaken. 

 This is proved in many ways. In Saxifrageae, the genus 

 Leiogyne has the ovary superior; in Saxifraga itself the 

 calyx partially adheres to the sides of the ovary, which then 

 becomes half inferior, while in Chrysosplenium the union 

 between the calyx and ovary is complete, and the latter is 

 wholly inferior. Again, in Pomaceae, the ovaries partially 

 cohere with the calyx in Photinia, completely in Pyrus, and 

 by their backs only in Cotoneaster ; whence the ovary is half 

 superior in the first instance, quite inferior in the second, and 

 what is csiWeA parietal in the third. Botanists call any thing 

 parietal wliich arises from the inner lining or wall of an oro-an; 

 thus in Cotoneaster the ovaries are parietal, because they 

 adhere to the inner lining of the calyx, and in Papaver the 

 placentae are parietal because they originate in the inner 

 lining of the fruit. 



Sometimes the ovary, instead of being sessile, as is usually 

 the case, is seated upon a long stalk ; as in the Passion flower 

 and the genus Cleome. This stalk is often called the theca- 

 phore or rjynophore (also hasicjijnium or podocjynium) ; but it is 

 obviously analogous to the petiole of a leaf, and the applica- 

 tion of a special term to it appears unnecessary. Cassini calls 

 the elongated apex of the ovary of some Composit£e le plateau. 



M 2 



