264 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



its being situated between that orfjan and the sta- 

 mens, is nevertheless, generally the most conspi- 

 cuous part ol" ihe plant, because of the gay colors 

 and liragrant odors which reside in it. The tissue 

 of which the corolla consists is uniformly colorless 

 and transparent ; the bright colors for which it is 

 so remarkable, being caused by minute drops of 

 -colored liquid, lying in its cells. 



Respecting the office of the floral envelope, 

 there has been some diti'erence of opinion, in time 

 past ; if, indeed, we are to regard those crude fan- 

 cies to which some naturalists have given utter- 

 ance, as a sober expression of their opinions. 

 The commonly received opinion at the present day 

 is, that "the office of the floral envelopes is, in 

 part, to act as a protection to the stamens and pis- 

 tils whilst they are young ; guarding them from 

 sudden variations in temperature, by the thin lay- 

 ers of air which they cause to be interposed be- 

 tween those parts and the atmosphere;" and also, 

 "that when green they act like the leaves, they act 

 as elaborators of food, on vvliich the stamens and 

 pistils may be nourished ; and when colored, con- 

 vert the feculcB deposited at their bases into sugar, 

 for the same purpose." 



The stamens, in the flower of the peach, con- 

 sist of two very distinct parts, viz., a slender 

 white stalk, called the filament, and a yellow head, 

 called the anther. When the anther is ripe, it 

 opens and discharges a yellow dust, called the 

 pollen. The pollen, when examined with the mi- 

 croscope, is found to consist of a vast number of 

 little grains, varying from 3'j5- to -^}-„ of a Ime in di- 

 ameter. If one of these grains be thrown upon 

 water, it soon swells, bursts, and discharges a tur- 

 bid fluid somewhat more dense than water. The 

 same eflect is produced when it falls upon the 

 moistened extremity of the pistil. 



The pistils, in the flower of the peach, consist 

 of three distinct parts, viz., the thickened base, 

 called the ovary, the slender part interposed be- 

 tween that and the rounded knob at the extremity, 

 called the style, and the rounded knob, called the 

 stigma. Of these parts the ovary and stigma are 

 present in all pistils; but the stile is oflen wanting, 

 and seems to be no more essential than the fool- 

 stalk to the leaf. On cutting the ovary open we 

 discover within it the embryo seed, i have re- 

 marked that the stamens and pistils seem to be es- 

 sential to the production and perfection of the seed. 

 They are not, however, always present in the 

 same flower. There is a class of plants which 

 have their stamens and pistils situated in separate 

 flowers, but upon the same stem. Of this class 

 the Indian corn (rea mays') may be mentioned as 

 an example; tlie staminate flowers, occupying 

 what is commonly called the tassel, and the pistiU 

 late flowers, the young shuck, the silk of the ear, 

 being in fact the pistils of those flowers. There is 

 also another class of plants which have iheir 

 staminate and pistillate flowers upon separate 

 plants. Of this class the willow ( salix) and the 

 hemp (^cannabis) may be meniioned as examples. 

 Where the staminate and pistillate flowers are on 

 thesamestem, they are said to be monoecious, or in 

 a single household ; where they are on diflerent 

 stalks they are said to be dicecious, or in two 

 households. 



The stamens and pistils are now generally be- 

 lieved to perform offices in the production of the 

 perfect seed, similar to those of the diflerent sexes 



among animals, in the production of their young; 

 hence, they have received the name of sexual or- 

 gans; the stamens being considered the fertilizing 

 system, and the pistils the fi'uctifying system. 

 The idea of sexuality among vegetables, appears 

 to have been entertained by some of the old Greek 

 and Roman naturalists. Theophrastus distin- 

 guished the male and female flowers, in the fir 

 Rabies) and willow, {salix, ) and affirms that the' 

 ii-uit of the female palm will not germinate, unless 

 the pollen of the male be shaken over the pistils of 

 the female flower, previous to the ripening of the 

 seed. 



The same idea appears to have been entertain- 

 ed and acted upon, by the Arabians, in eariy 

 times. Dr. Hasselquist in a letter to Linnaeus, 

 dated Alexandria, May 18th, 1750, gives a full 

 description of the manner in which the Arabs 

 treated the date-palm in order to make it bear 

 fruit. As this letter is not only curious, but also 

 instructive, inasmuch as it sets the matter in ques- 

 tion clearly before the mind of the reader, I will 

 transcribe it in full. 



"The first thing I did after my arrival was to 

 see the date-tree, the ornament and a great part 

 of the riches of this country. It had already blos-^ 

 somed ; but 1 had nevertheless, the pleasure of 

 seeing how the Arabs assist its fecundation, and 

 thus secure to themselves a plentiful harvest of a 

 vegetable, which was so important to them, and 

 known to them many centuries before any botan- 

 ist dreamed of the difference of sexes in vegeta- 

 bles. The gardener informed me of this before I 

 had time to inquire; and would show me, as a 

 very curious thing, the male and female of the 

 date or palm tree ; nor could he conceive how I, a 

 Frank lately arrived, could know it before ; tor 

 says he, all who have yet come from Europe tO' 

 see this country, have regarded this relation either 

 as a fable or miracle. The Arab seeing me in-' 

 dined to be further infijrmed, accompanied me and 

 my French interpreter to a palm-tree, which was 

 very full of young fruit, and had by him been 

 wedded or fecundated with the male, when both 

 were in blossom. This the Arabs do in the fol- 

 lowing manner: When the spadix has l(?ma!e 

 flowers that come out of its spatha, they search 

 out a tree that has male flowers, (which they 

 know by experience,) the spadix of which has 

 not yet bursted out of its spatha; this they open, 

 take out the spadix, and cut it lengthwise in seve- 

 ral pieces, but take care not to hurt the flowers. 

 A piece of this spadix with male flowers they put 

 leniithwise between the small branches of the 

 spadix which has female flowers, and then lay a 

 leaf of the palm over the branches, in this situa- 

 tion I yet saw the greatest part of the spadices 

 which bore their young fruit ; but the male flow- 

 ers which were put between were withered. The 

 Arab besides irave me the following anecdotes : 

 I'^'irst, unless they in this manner wed, and fecun- 

 date the date-tree, it bears no fruit. Secondly, 

 they always take the precaution to preserve some 

 unopened spatha? with male flowers, from one 

 year to another, to be applied tor this purpose, in 

 case the male flowers should miscarry, or suffer 

 damage. Thirdly, if they permit the spadix ol 

 the male flowers to burst or come out, it becomes 

 useless for the purpose of fecundation. There- 

 fore, the person who cultivates date-trees must be 

 careful to hit the risht time for assisting their le- 



