THE MONOPETALOUS ORDERS. 



441 



Ovules mostly indefinite and amphitropous. Style and stigma sin- 

 gle. Fruit capsular : the fleshy central placenta attached to the 

 base of the cell. Seeds albuminous. Embryo transverse. Ex. 

 Primula (Primrose), Cyclamen, Anagallis. In Samolus, the ca- 

 lyx coheres with the base of the ovary, and there is a row of sterile 

 filaments occupying the normal position of the first set of stamens, 

 namely, alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Of little conse- 

 quence, except for their beauty. 



830. Ord, PlantaginaceSB (the Plantain Family). Chiefly low 

 herbs, with small spiked flowers on scapes, and ribbed radical 

 leaves. Calyx four-cleft, persistent. Corolla tubular or urn- 

 shaped, scarious and persistent ; the limb four-cleft. Stamens 

 four, inserted on the tube of the corolla alternate with its seg- 



FIG. 822. Primula pusilla. 823. The corolla removed; its tube laid open. 824. The calyx 

 divided vertically, showing the pistil. 825. Vertical section of the ovary and of the free central 

 placenta, covered with ovules, which nearly fills the cell. 826. Capsule of Primula veris, de- 

 hiscent at the summit by numerous teeth. 827. A magnified seed. 828. Section of the same, 

 exhibiting the transverse embryo. 



FIG. 829. Branch of Anagallis arvensis (Pimpernel), with a capsule showing the line of cir- 

 cumscissile dehiscence. 830. The capsule (pyxis, 616), with the lid falling away. 



