106 REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. CHAP. III. 



corolla, as in the genus Veronica, their insertion is 

 said to be Epipetalcus ; if in the calyx, as in the 

 genus Epilobium, their insertion is ssid to be Peri- 

 gynous ; and if on the ovary, as in the natural order 

 of the Orchidetf, their insertion is said to be Epi- 

 gynous. 



Propor* The relative proportion of the stamens to one 

 another, and to the several parts of the flower, is also 

 a circumstance of material importance to the 

 botanist. In the Tulip, and indeed in most genera 

 of plants, they are nearly of the same length in the 

 same flower. But there are also many genera in 

 which they are uniformly of unequal lengths in the 

 same flower. This is the case in the genus Mentha, 

 in which out of four stamens, the complement of 

 the flower, two are always shorter ; as well as in all 

 genera of the class Didynamia of Linnaeus, com- 

 prehending the natural order of the labiate, ringent, 

 or personate flowers. The same remark may be ap- 

 plied to the class Tetr adynamia of Linnaeus, in 

 which out of six stamens, the complement of the 

 flower, two are also always shorter, being one of the 

 most striking characteristics of the very natural 

 order of cruciform flowers. If compared in their 

 proportions with the other parts of the flower, the 

 stamens are sometimes found to equal the calyx or 

 corolla in their length, as in the genus Polygonum ; 

 sometimes they are found to overtop it, as in Allium 

 vineale ; and sometimes they are found to fall short 

 of it 5 as in Crocus sat wits. 



