contains a fluid of the consistency of the white of an 

 uncooked egg. This fluid and what it contains is a neces- 

 sary substance required to assist in the production of 

 fertile seed. Stamens vary in number more than do 

 petals or sepals. They may be very few or many, but 

 they are very often of the same number, or twice as many 

 as the petals. They may be all free one from the other, or 

 variously united. 



In the centre of the flower is the pistil. It is usually 

 dull or green, leaving the lighter duties of protection and 

 attraction to the outer circles. It attends to the important 

 duty of rearing the young. The pistils of flowers exhibit 

 a greater variety of forms than do either of the other 

 circles. Like them it is made up of few or many units, and 

 just as the unit of a corolla is named a petal, so that 

 of a pistil is called a carpel. A carpel is simply a leaf 

 modified to better fit it to perform its special work. In its 

 simplest condition in flowering plants it is a leaf folded on 

 itself longitudinally till the edges come together and join 

 to form a little bag. On the joined edges inside the bag 

 are developed one or more little round bodies called ovules, 

 which will eventually become seeds. These ovules are the 

 direct descendants of the large-spored sacks found in 

 Pines, some Ferns, and some Lycopods. In the Pines and 

 Flowering plants these large spores are not free and shed 

 as they may be in the others, but are retained within the 

 sack where their presence is obscure. 



The upper end of a carpel is usually elongated into a 

 slender column called the style, and at the apex of the 

 style is a variously-shaped receptive surface named the 

 stigma. 



The pistil is subject to most varied modifications, accord- 

 ing to the species of flower. It may consist of a single 

 carpel, as in Peaflowers, Wattles, Waratah, and its allies; 

 it may consist of many carpels, all free from one another, 

 as in Buttercup, Clematis, Strawberry, or Raspberry; or 

 the carpels may be variously united. When such is the 

 case the union may take place in various degrees, from a 

 simple attachment to one another to a condition where they 

 are so blended that all superficial sign of the separate 

 carpels is lost and the ovarian cavities are merged in one, 

 as in Primula and Pimpernel. Most brightly-coloured 

 flowers produce honey or similar substance of use to 

 insects. This is formed from organs called nectaries, which 

 are variously placed in the flowers according to its kind. 



