302 PHYLU.M XIV. AXTHOPHYTA 



bearing on its margin the perianth and stamens, subtending 

 or surrounding the carpels . . " Cup Flowers" (Calyciflorae) . 



.\xis Flowers^ 



549. The Buttercup (Ranunculus) described above is 

 one of tlie simplest of the Axis Flowers, in which the 

 flower axis is nearly spherical. 



550. The Magnolia flower (Magnolia) is much like a 

 gigantic Buttercup, the axis being more elongated, but 

 with essentially the same structural plan. This flower 

 also has many separate carpels. 



551. The common Mallow (Malva) has many carpels 

 in a single whorl, whose adjacent sides feebly cohere 



to form a compound pistil. The many 

 stamens also cohere below into a tube, but 

 above they are separate and spreading. 

 The perianth whorls are dissimilar, the 

 outer being green and coarser, and the 

 inner white or bluish, and of soft texture. 

 All these flower parts are borne on the 

 small, conical axis. 



552. The Wild Geranium (Geranium) has an elongated 

 axis on the sides of which is borne the whorl of five 

 feebly adherent carpels. The stamens are similarly 

 reduced in number (two whorls of 5 each) and the per- 

 ianth consists of dissimilar whorls, the outer of green 

 sepals, and the inner of pink or purplish petals. 



553. In the Violet (Viola) the axis is very short and 

 bears on its summit the tricarpellary pistil. The 

 carpels are united by their margins, making but one 



^ For the more systematic arrangement of the plants in this and 

 the following sub-class the reader is referred to the outline of the 

 Plant Phyla in Chapter XXII, where the orders and families are 

 given in what is believed to be their proper sequence. 



