130 



THE FLOWER 



most of those in the Pulse and Mint families, can be divided by one 

 and only one plane into two equal parts. 



257. The relation of the perianth and stamens to the pistil is ex- 

 pressed by the terms hypogynous (i.e. under the pistil), when they are 

 all free, that is, not adnate to pistil or united with each other, as in 

 Fig. 182. 



Perigynous (around the pistil), when adnate to each other, that 

 is, when petals and stamens are inserted or borne on the calyx, whether 



187 



as in Cherry flowers (Fig. 183) they are free from the pistil, or as in 

 Purslane and Hawthorn (Figs. 184, 185) they are also adnate below to 

 the ovary. 



Epigynous (on the ovary), when so adnate that all these parts appear 

 to arise from the very summit of the ovary, as in Fig. 186. The last 

 two terms are not very definitely distinguished. 



258. Position of the parts of the flower. 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 

 subtends it and the axis or stem which bears this bract or leaf. This 

 is represented in sectional diagrams (as in Figs. 187, 188) by a trans- 

 verse line for the bract, and a small circle for the axis of inflorescence. 



