466 PART IV. CLASSIFICATION. 



carpels cohere simply by their edges without any portion of them 

 projecting inwards ; but if the margins project into the cavity 

 so as to form incomplete longitudinal dissepiments, the ovary is 

 chambered (Fig. 282 C), e.g. Poppy ; but since the chambers are 

 open towards the centre, the ovary is still unilocular. When the 

 margins form dissepiments which meet in the middle, the ovary is 

 multilocular (Pig. 282 D) ; sometimes the margins turn outwards 

 again towards the circumference. In the last case the individual 

 loculi are completely separated ; but there are others in which the 

 margins of the carpels do not extend so far towards the centre at 

 the upper part as at the lower, but the two margins of each carpel 

 simply cohere together above ; consequently the lower part of the 

 ovary is polymerous and multilocular, while the upper part is 

 composed of a number of monomerous ovaries, e.g. Saxifraga (Fig. 

 281 D). In all these cases the floral axis may grow up into the 



FIG. 282. Transverse section of ovaries ; p placenta. A Monomerous and unilocular ; 

 ) dorsal suture : b ventral suture ; placentation marginal. B Polymerous and unilocu- 

 lar ; placentation parietal. C Pol.vmerous and many-chambered, but unilocular ; pla- 

 centation parietal. D Polymerous and multilocular ; placentation axile. 



interior of the cavity of the ovary, and when the ovary is multi- 

 locular the axis may coalesce with the dissepiments. 



False dissepiments may be formed in polymerous ovaries by in- 

 growths from the internal surface of the carpels ; thus the ,ovar} r 

 of the Boraginaceae and Labiatae is originally bilocular, but each 

 loculus becomes divided into two by a false dissepiment, and when 

 the fruit is ripe the four loculi separate completely ; similarly, the 

 unilocular ovary of the Cruci ferae becomes spuriously bilocular. 



The inferior oYary of epigynous flowers (see p. 444) is com- 

 monly polymerous, but it may be either unilocular or multilocular. 



In some bases the axis is prolonged between the carpels, con- 

 stituting a carpophore, as in the Geraniacese and Umbelliferse 

 (Fig. 287). 



The Style (Figs. 281 and 283) is the prolongation of the upper 

 part of the carpel : it is commonly a slender cylinder, but some- 



