148 BOTANY. 



bulb arising as a bud at the base of the stem of the present 

 year. 



The flower is made up of five circles of very much modified 

 leaves, three leaves in each set. The two outer circles are 

 much alike, but the three outermost leaves are slightly nar- 

 rower and strongly tinged with red on the back, completely 

 concealing the three inner ones before the flower expands. 

 The latter are pure yellow, except for a ridge along the back, 

 and a few red specks near the base inside. These six leaves 

 constitute the perigone of the flower ; the three outer are called 

 sepals, the inner ones petals. 



The next two circles are composed of the sporophylls bear- 

 ing the pollen spores. 1 These are the stamens, and taken 

 collectively are known as the " Andrcecium" Each leaf or 

 stamen consists of two distinct portions, a delicate stalk or 

 "filament' 7 (Z>, /), and the upper spore-bearing part, the 

 "anther" (an.). The anther in the freshly opened flower has 

 a smooth, red surface ; but shortly after, the flower opens, splits 

 along each side, and discharges the pollen spores. A section 

 across the anther shows it to be composed of four sporangia 

 or pollen sacs attached to a common central axis ("connec- 

 tive") (Mg. IT). 



The central circle of leaves, the carpels (collectively the 

 "gyncecium") are completely united to form a compound 

 pistil (Fig. 81, E). This shows three distinct portions, the 

 ovule-bearing portion below (o),the " ovary," a stalk above (st.), 

 the "style," and the receptive portion (z) at the top, the 

 " stigma." Both stigma and ovary show plainly their compound 

 nature, the former being divided into three lobes, the latter 

 completely divided into three chambers, as well as being flat- 

 tened at the sides with a more or less decided seam at the 

 three angles. The ovules, which are quite large, are arranged 

 in two rows in each chamber of the ovary, attached to the 

 central column ("placenta"). 



1 The three outer stamens are shorter than the inner set. 



