BOTANY. 



589 



The foregoing are the names of the different parts 

 or members composing a perfect flower, but they arc 

 not all present in every ilower. In some instances 

 the calyx is wantinur, or merged in the corolla, as in the 

 tulip ; in the mezereon the corolla is absent, or it is 

 absorbed into the calyx, which is coloured. Filaments 

 are sometimes produced without anthers, and in some 

 plants this defect appears to be constitutional, as the 

 filaments are alternately barren and fertile. Some 

 anthers have very short, or no visible filaments, they 

 being non-essentials. The disk is often wanting, or 

 inconspicuous, and so is the style ; but the stigma, 

 seed-vessel, and anthers, must all be present to con- 

 stitute a perfect flower in its normal or natural state. 

 Some of these members, as has already been stated, 

 are quickly perishable, others persisting to complete 

 their functions. For instance, the calyx of the apple 

 is united to the nndistinguishablc bases of the corolla 

 and envelope of the ovarium, becoming a thick pulpy 

 mass, bearing the sepals, which form the crown or eye, 

 as it is called, of the fruit. The like is the case in the 

 gooseberry. The strawberry is a fleshy receptacle ; 

 so is the fig. The peach, and other stone fruit, are 

 pulpy periearpiums composed of an outer skin 

 (eptcarpium), an intermediate pulp (tarcooofpiwafy, 

 aud the stone (endocardium*), containing the ovula. 



Section of a peach. 



Plants which have been long in cultivation are very 

 liable to have deformed or monstrous flowers, and for 

 which peculiarity many receive the utmost caie of the 

 gardener and florist. This transformation happens in 

 consequence of so many of the species anil varieties 

 of the same kinds being phnted near together, and 

 thereby allowing intermixture of the pollen of each 

 other. High cultivation is also productive of unna- 

 tural luxuriance, particularly of the floral appendages. 

 Not only are the sepals of the calyx, the petals of the 

 corolla, "the filaments of the stamens, all engrossed 

 and deformed, but multiplied in some cases beyond 

 measure. Even the pistillum itself becomes misshapen, 

 its cuticle being dilated and produced upwards into 

 leaf-like expansions, and coloured like the common 

 foliage. 



Naturalists have, until these few years, at tribnted 

 all such transformations to excessive cultivation, and 

 the interference of art, by which the natural conditioi 



of the vegetable organs suffer derangement. Such 



i i 



appearances arc never seen on plants in their natura 



state, unless produced by the depredations of insect: 

 or other animals. Vegetable membrane is oi'iei 

 seen unnaturally distended in consequence of wounds 



received on the stem, or fractured branches of the 

 lead. These distensions, however, never take the 

 bnn of any other perfect organ ; being mostly shape- 

 ess masses of bark and wood. 



The illustration of these anomalies in vegetation, 

 lave in the modern schools of botany been advanced 

 to a distinct branch of the science called " Morpho- 

 logy, or the metamorphosis of organs." A digest of 

 the very curious doctrines involved in this new branch 

 of the science, need not be entered into here ; suffice 

 t to observe that they are founded upon what appears 

 ;o be a dereliction from the general laws of nature. In 

 all organised things, whether animal or vegetable, we 

 find a cornpages of distinct members, each of which 

 iias its own place and functions. These are the vital, 

 nutritive, conducting, preservative, and reproductive. 

 The last is very manifest in animals; and to common 

 understanding, the reproductive organs are as obvious 

 and palpable as are any other of the appendages of 

 vegetables. But it seems this idea is a mistake ; 

 because, according to the new doctrine, the fructife- 

 rous organs of a plant have no rudimental identity, 

 they being only accidental associations of the leaves ; 

 that is, the calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistillum are 

 only transformed and contorted leave-?, in conse- 

 quence of the shoot on which they are placed, becom- 

 ing, by another accident " stunted." 



It is needless to go farther by way of comment on 

 this new view of the constitutional structure, mal- 

 formations, and transformations of plants; it is a sub- 

 ject open to the consideration of every phytologist, 

 who may come to such conclusion as he thinks most 

 rational and agreeable to the laws of nature. It may 

 just be added, however, that the morphologist suc- 

 ceeds pretty plausibly when employed in describing- 

 the changes of the leaves of a tulip into corolla, &c. 

 or in doing the same with the garden poppy, till the 

 capsule is opened displaying thousands of seeds, each 

 of which he is bound to consider a convolved leaf, or 

 a series of convolved atoms of leaves. 



This opinion of the metamorphosis of plants having 

 been first suggested by Linnaeus, sun? of by the 

 celebrated Goethe and embraced by De Candolle 

 and other eminent botanists on the continent and 

 in England, has received very great attention ; but 

 except in Dr. Lindley's " Introduction to Botany," 

 it has not as yet received so full an investigation as 

 the subject demands. 



The foregoing descriptions of the different parts 

 of plants, with the names given them by botanical 

 writers, together with the accompanying figures, will 

 serve to convey a general idea of the physiology of 

 plants. On them the various systems of botany 

 have boon founded, a will appear in the subsequent 

 sections of this article. But before entering on an 

 exposition of the three most celebrated svstcms which 

 have from time to time been given to the world, it 

 may be requisite, perhaps, to advance a few observa- 

 tions on the growth of plants, or what is commonly 

 called 



VEGETABLE LIFE. That vegetables are organised 

 bodies and endowed with a kind of life, is perfectly 

 evident. Under favourable circumstances they are 

 increased from a very small, to a considerable, and 

 in SOUK; eases to a vast hulk. This phenomenon is 

 commonly culled growth ; aud it is one of their pro- 

 perties which should be well understood, as well by 

 the botanical student as by the practical cultivator 

 of plants. It is impossible '.however, to have a right 



