ANTHER ANTHOLYZ A. 



150 



and not a fact ; and though it were the latter, that 

 would not establish any necessary correspondence in 

 use; the truth is that the senses of the invertebrated 

 animals, with the exception of sight, of which the 

 organs, though often peculiar, are not easily mistaken, 

 is one of the most obscure portions of natural his- 

 tory. See INSECTS, and the other divisions. 



Various forms of Antennae. 

 The above figures show the leading forms of antennae. 



ANTHER (the fertiliser) is the name given to 

 that part of the stamens of flowers which first contains, 

 and afterwards discharges the fertilising dust or pollen 

 necessary for perfecting the ovulae in the germen or 

 seed-vessel. The anthers are generally supported by 

 slender thread-like bodies, hence called filaments, to 

 which they are attached, either by their base, or back, 

 or by a single point at the centre. They differ very 

 much in form ; on some plants they are globular, 

 oval, or hemispherical ; on others arrow-shaped, cru- 

 ciform, horned, or twinned. In colour they are mostly 

 yellow, though often partaking of the general colour 

 of the flower ; blue, or red, or purple, and frequently 

 of pearly white. The manner of their dehiscence, or 

 opening to allow the escape of their contents, varies 

 in different plants. Sometimes the anther bursts by 

 a longitudinal suture, the skin or cuticle being rolled 

 back ; in other cases the pollen escapes by pores at 

 the base, or at the apex of the cells ; or is thence 

 discharged at a lateral opening with some force and to 

 considerable distance. In all unisexual flowers it is 

 worthy of remark that the anthers are commonly 

 placed above, or nearly equal in height with the 

 stigma ; and that these two essential organs of the 

 flower become simultaneously perfect, so that their 

 functions respectively may not be neutralised. In 

 bisexual flowers it is also observable that the males 

 have a higher station, or precede the females in de- 

 velopment. In the larch and some others of the 

 eoniferae, and among amentaceae, it is seen that while 

 the female catkins are erect, the males are pendent : 

 so wisely has nature provided that her purposes of 

 reproduction may not be defeated. How conspicu- 

 ously is this circumstance shown in the zea mays, or 

 Indian wheat? The male panicles are profusely 

 covered with perfect anthers occupying the summit 

 of the plant, before the tuft of thread-like stigmas 

 corne forth below. Indeed, the sexes are so distant, 

 or rather the one comes forth so long before the 

 other, as to induce the idea that the pollen finds its 

 way to the stigmas through the vascular structure of 

 the intervening stem. However this may be, the 

 influence of the pollen is duly received, as is evinced 

 by the regerminating powers of the produce. 



Flowers are said to be not only robbed by bees of 



the honey exuded from the bottom of the corolla, 

 but also of the pollen of the anthers, which they 

 knead into wax for the construction of their combs. 

 These thefts may be well excused, because, while 

 these industrious insects are extracting honey and 

 pollen, they are at the same time distributing the 

 latter to accidentally misplaced or distant flowers 

 which, without their bustling visits, might remain 

 unfertile. 



Differently formed Anthers, some of them magnified. 



The above figures are some of the most common 

 forms of anthers, and which will sufficiently identify 

 these organs to the uninitiated in botanical know- 

 ledge ; more especially when connected with the 

 descriptions of the other parts of flowers with which 

 the anthers are united. See STAMENS, POLLEN, &c. 



ANTHERICUM (Linnaeus). Alarge family of her- 

 baceous plants, chiefly natives of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Linnaaan class and order, Hcxandria Mono- 

 gynia ; natural order, Asphodelece. Generic character : 

 perianthium of many parts ; corolla of six spreading 

 petals ; stamens below the germen ; filaments awl- 

 shaped, glossy ; anthers leaning, two-celled ; germen 

 with three nectariferous glands ; style awl-shaped ; 

 stigma somewhat clubbed ; capsule three-celled ; seeds 

 three-sided. 



The anthericums are greenhouse plants, and are 

 readily flowered, but possess no great beauty. 



ANTHOCERSIS (Labillardiere). A family con- 

 sisting of three species of evergreen shrubs, from New 

 Holland. Linnaean class and order, Didynamia Angio- 

 spermia. Natural order, Solanece. Generic character : 

 calyx five-cleft ; corolla bell-shaped, but pressed to- 

 gether at the base, throat ribbed, limb in five equal 

 parts; stamens included, with five rudiments; fila- 

 ments flat at the base ; anthers ovular and two- 

 celled ; style with a two-lobed stigma ; capsule two- 

 celled, two-valved ; seeds netted. 



ANTHOLYZA (Linnaeus). A small, but an 

 exceedingly beautiful genus of Cape of Good Hope 

 bulbs. Linnaean class and order, Triandria Mono- 

 gynia. Natural order, Iridees. Generic character : 

 spatha, of two valves, somewhat convolute ; corolla, 

 tubular, elegant, limb gaping, upper lip elongated, 

 the lower cut into five segments ; side ones reflexed ; 

 stigma undivided ; capsule globular, leathery ; seeds 

 round, barked. This is one of the most interesting 

 of the Cape bulbs, and is usually treated as a frame 

 plant, and kept in pots. Like other bulbous and 



