DIVISIONS OF THE CALYX. 



" Couched among the thick leaves of the grove." 

 (^fvSptwv tv TrerdXoiffi Ka.6efofJ.4vr} irvKa>oi<riv.) * 



The word petal was preserved by Tournefort, handed down 

 by Linnaeus and the two De Jussieus, and afterwards adopted 

 by all botanists with the signification given to it by the 

 ancients. Now, as the calyx may also consist of leaflets, 

 which are generally green, Necker conceived the idea of 

 applying to them the same term, after substituting an s for 

 the initial letter /. Thus was created the word sepal. The 

 innovation, I must point out, was not unanimously adopted. 

 Many botanists continued to use the words " calicinal leaf- 

 Jets," introduced by Linnaeus ; others, though they adopted 

 the innovation, protested .against it. 



But leaving the word, let us return to the thing. 



The calyx consists originally of several leaflets. Is the 

 monophyllous or monosepalous calyx a transformation due to 

 the junction of the primitive leaflets ? Observation replies in 

 the affirmative. 



In the formation of junctures or adhesions nature proceeds 

 from beneath to above. Our language proceeds inversely to 

 nature : we speak of a lobed, dentated, or partite calyx, as if 

 it were primarily monophyllous, and its more or less profound 

 divisions (indicated by the words " lobed," " dentated," " par- 

 tite") were but consecutive results, produced from above to 

 below. 



The truth is, that the calicinal divisions, which we call 

 lobes, hernias, and the like, are but the tops of leaflets united 

 * Homer, " Odyssey," Book xix., line 520. 



