SECT. II. THE FLOWER-STALK. 125 



corolla, as in plants in general ; or persistent, and 

 crowning the fruit, as in the Poppy and Wall- 

 flower. 



SECTION II. 



The Flower-stalk. 



THE flower-stalk is a partial trunk or stem, sup- Speci. 

 porting one or more flowers, if the flowers are not 

 sessile, and issuing from the root, stem, branch, 

 or petiole, and sometimes even from the leaf. It 

 is considered by botanists as comprehending two 

 different species, the scape and peduncle. 



SUBSECTION I. 



The Scape. The scape, is a flower-stalk issuing p e fim- 

 immediately from the root, and forming the only tlon ' 

 trunk of the plant. It may be very happily ex- 

 emplified in the different species of Primula. 

 (PL IV. Fig. 1.) In Primula vulgaris, in which 

 several scapes issue from the same root, each is a 

 slender and cylindrical stalk, simple and undivided 

 in its structure, and supporting a single flower. 

 In Primula veris, in which one scape only issues 

 from the root, it is a stalk of greater thickness 

 and strength, branched or divided at the top, and 

 supporting several flowers. In this case the lower 

 portion, issuing from the root, is called the common 

 foot-stalk ; the branches are called pedicles. 



